Network Working Group                                  H. Sinnreich, Ed.
Request for Comments: 4504                                    pulver.com
Category: Informational                                          S. Lass
                                                                Verizon
                                                           C. Stredicke
                                                                   snom
                                                               May 2006


         SIP Telephony Device Requirements and Configuration

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 the requirements for SIP telephony devices,
  based on the deployment experience of large numbers of SIP phones and
  PC clients using different implementations in various networks.  The
  objectives of the requirements are a well-defined set of
  interoperability and multi-vendor-supported core features, so as to
  enable similar ease of purchase, installation, and operation as found
  for PCs, PDAs, analog feature phones or mobile phones.

  We present a glossary of the most common settings and some of the
  more widely used values for some settings.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction ....................................................3
     1.1. Conventions used in this document ..........................4
  2. Generic Requirements ............................................4
     2.1. SIP Telephony Devices ......................................4
     2.2. DNS and ENUM Support .......................................5
     2.3. SIP Device Resident Telephony Features .....................5
     2.4. Support for SIP Services ...................................8
     2.5. Basic Telephony and Presence Information Support ...........9
     2.6. Emergency and Resource Priority Support ....................9
     2.7. Multi-Line Requirements ...................................10
     2.8. User Mobility .............................................11
     2.9. Interactive Text Support ..................................11



Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                      [Page 1]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


     2.10. Other Related Protocols ..................................12
     2.11. SIP Device Security Requirements .........................13
     2.12. Quality of Service .......................................13
     2.13. Media Requirements .......................................14
     2.14. Voice Codecs .............................................14
     2.15. Telephony Sound Requirements .............................15
     2.16. International Requirements ...............................15
     2.17. Support for Related Applications .........................16
     2.18. Web-Based Feature Management .............................16
     2.19. Firewall and NAT Traversal ...............................16
     2.20. Device Interfaces ........................................17
  3. Glossary and Usage for the Configuration Settings ..............18
     3.1. Device ID .................................................18
     3.2. Signaling Port ............................................19
     3.3. RTP Port Range ............................................19
     3.4. Quality of Service ........................................19
     3.5. Default Call Handling .....................................19
          3.5.1. Outbound Proxy .....................................19
          3.5.2. Default Outbound Proxy .............................20
          3.5.3. SIP Session Timer ..................................20
     3.6. Telephone Dialing Functions ...............................20
          3.6.1. Phone Number Representations .......................20
          3.6.2. Digit Maps and/or the Dial/OK Key ..................20
          3.6.3. Default Digit Map ..................................21
     3.7. SIP Timer Settings ........................................21
     3.8. Audio Codecs ..............................................21
     3.9. DTMF Method ...............................................22
     3.10. Local and Regional Parameters ............................22
     3.11. Time Server ..............................................22
     3.12. Language .................................................23
     3.13. Inbound Authentication ...................................23
     3.14. Voice Message Settings ...................................23
     3.15. Phonebook and Call History ...............................24
     3.16. User-Related Settings and Mobility .......................24
     3.17. AOR-Related Settings .....................................25
     3.18. Maximum Connections ......................................25
     3.19. Automatic Configuration and Upgrade ......................25
     3.20. Security Configurations ..................................26
  4. Security Considerations ........................................26
     4.1. Threats and Problem Statement .............................26
     4.2. SIP Telephony Device Security .............................27
     4.3. Privacy ...................................................28
     4.4. Support for NAT and Firewall Traversal ....................28
  5. Acknowledgements ...............................................29
  6. Informative References .........................................31






Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                      [Page 2]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


1.  Introduction

  This document has the objective of focusing the Internet
  communications community on requirements for telephony devices using
  SIP.

  We base this information from developing and using a large number of
  SIP telephony devices in carrier and private IP networks and on the
  Internet.  This deployment has shown the need for generic
  requirements for SIP telephony devices and also the need for some
  specifics that can be used in SIP interoperability testing.

  SIP telephony devices, also referred to as SIP User Agents (UAs), can
  be any type of IP networked computing user device enabled for SIP-
  based IP telephony.  SIP telephony user devices can be SIP phones,
  adaptors for analog phones and for fax machines, conference
  speakerphones, software packages (soft clients) running on PCs,
  laptops, wireless connected PDAs, 'Wi-Fi' SIP mobile phones, as well
  as other mobile and cordless phones that support SIP signaling for
  real-time communications.  SIP-PSTN gateways are not the object of
  this memo, since they are network elements and not end user devices.

  SIP telephony devices can also be instant messaging (IM) applications
  that have a telephony option.

  SIP devices MAY support various other media besides voice, such as
  text, video, games, and other Internet applications; however, the
  non-voice requirements are not specified in this document, except
  when providing enhanced telephony features.

  SIP telephony devices are highly complex IP endpoints that speak many
  Internet protocols, have audio and visual interfaces, and require
  functionality targeted at several constituencies: (1) end users, (2)
  service providers and network administrators, (3) manufacturers, and
  (4) system integrators.

  The objectives of the requirements are a well-defined set of
  interoperability and multi-vendor-supported core features, so as to
  enable similar ease of purchase, installation, and operation as found
  for standard PCs, analog feature phones, or mobile phones.  Given the
  cost of some feature-rich display phones may approach the cost of PCs
  and PDAs, similar or even better ease of use as compared to personal
  computers and networked PDAs is expected by both end users and
  network administrators.

  While some of the recommendations of this document go beyond what is
  currently mandated for SIP implementations within the IETF, this is
  believed necessary to support the specified operational objectives.



Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                      [Page 3]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


  However, it is also important to keep in mind that the SIP
  specifications are constantly evolving; thus, these recommendations
  need to be considered in the context of that change and evolution.
  Due to the evolution of IETF documents in the standards process, and
  the informational nature of this memo, the references are all
  informative.

1.1.  Conventions used in this document

  This document is informational and therefore the key words "MUST",
  "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", and "MAY", in this document are not to be
  interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [1], but rather indicate the
  nature of the suggested requirement.

2.  Generic Requirements

  We present here a minimal set of requirements that MUST be met by all
  SIP [2] telephony devices, except where SHOULD or MAY is specified.

2.1.  SIP Telephony Devices

  This memo applies mainly to desktop phones and other special purpose
  SIP telephony hardware.  Some of the requirements in this section are
  not applicable to PC/laptop or PDA software phones (soft phones) and
  mobile phones.

  Req-1: SIP telephony devices MUST be able to acquire IP network
         settings by automatic configuration using Dynamic Host
         Configuration Protocol (DHCP) [3].

  Req-2: SIP telephony devices MUST be able to acquire IP network
         settings by manual entry of settings from the device.

  Req-3: SIP telephony devices SHOULD support IPv6.  Some newer
         wireless networks may mandate support for IPv6 and in such
         networks SIP telephony devices MUST support IPv6.

  Req-4: SIP telephony devices MUST support the Simple Network Time
         Protocol [4].

  Req-5: Desktop SIP phones and other special purpose SIP telephony
         devices MUST be able to upgrade their firmware to support
         additional features and the functionality.

  Req-6: Users SHOULD be able to upgrade the devices with no special
         applications or equipment; or a service provider SHOULD be
         able to push the upgrade down to the devices remotely.




Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                      [Page 4]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


2.2.  DNS and ENUM Support

  Req-7: SIP telephony devices MUST support RFC 3263 [5] for locating a
         SIP server and selecting a transport protocol.

  Req-8: SIP telephony devices MUST incorporate DNS resolvers that are
         configurable with at least two entries for DNS servers for
         redundancy.  To provide efficient DNS resolution, SIP
         telephony devices SHOULD query responsive DNS servers and skip
         DNS servers that have been non-responsive to recent queries.

  Req-9: To provide efficient DNS resolution and to limit post-dial
         delay, SIP telephony devices MUST cache DNS responses based on
         the DNS time-to-live.

  Req-10: For DNS efficiency, SIP telephony devices SHOULD use the
          additional information section of the DNS response instead of
          generating additional DNS queries.

  Req-11: SIP telephony devices MAY support ENUM [6] in case the end
          users prefer to have control over the ENUM lookup.  Note: The
          ENUM resolver can also be placed in the outgoing SIP proxy to
          simplify the operation of the SIP telephony device.  The
          Extension Mechanisms for DNS (EDNSO) in RFC 2671 SHOULD also
          be supported.

2.3.  SIP Device Resident Telephony Features

  Req-12: SIP telephony devices MUST support RFC 3261 [2].

  Req-13: SIP telephony devices SHOULD support the SIP Privacy header
          by populating headers with values that reflect the privacy
          requirements and preferences as described in "User Agent
          Behavior", Section 4 of RFC 3323 [7].

  Req-14: SIP telephony devices MUST be able to place an existing call
          on hold, and initiate or receive another call, as specified
          in RFC 3264 [8] and SHOULD NOT omit the sendrecv attribute.

  Req-15: SIP telephony devices MUST provide a call waiting indicator.
          When participating in a call, the user MUST be alerted
          audibly and/or visually of another incoming call.  The user
          MUST be able to enable/disable the call waiting indicator.

  Req-16: SIP telephony devices MUST support SIP message waiting [9]
          and the integration with message store platforms.





Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                      [Page 5]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


  Req-17: SIP telephony devices MAY support a local dial plan.  If a
          dial plan is supported, it MUST be able to match the user
          input to one of multiple pattern strings and transform the
          input to a URI, including an arbitrary scheme and URI
          parameters.

  Example: If a local dial plan is supported, it SHOULD be configurable
  to generate any of the following URIs when "5551234" is dialed:

  tel:+12125551234
  sip:[email protected];user=phone
  sips:[email protected];user=phone
  sip:[email protected]
  sips:[email protected]
  tel:5551234;phone-context=nyc1.example.net
  sip:5551234;phone-
  [email protected];user=phone
  sips:5551234;phone-
  [email protected];user=phone
  sip:5551234;phone-
  [email protected];user=dialstring
  sips:5551234;phone-
  [email protected];user=dialstring
  tel:5551234;phone-context=+1212
  sip:5551234;[email protected];user=phone
  sips:5551234;[email protected];user=phone
  sip:5551234;[email protected];user=dialstring
  sips:5551234;[email protected];user=dialstring

  If a local dial plan is not supported, the device SHOULD be
  configurable to generate any of the following URIs when "5551234" is
  dialed:

  sip:[email protected]
  sips:[email protected]
  sip:5551234;phone-
  [email protected];user=dialstring
  sips:5551234;phone-
  [email protected];user=dialstring
  sip:5551234;[email protected];user=dialstring
  sips:5551234;[email protected];user=dialstring"

  Req-18: SIP telephony devices MUST support URIs for telephone numbers
          as per RFC 3966 [10].  This includes the reception as well as
          the sending of requests.  The reception may be denied
          according to the configurable security policy of the device.
          It is a reasonable behavior to send a request to a
          preconfigured outbound proxy.



Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                      [Page 6]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


  Req-19: SIP telephony devices MUST support REFER and NOTIFY for call
          transfer [11], [12].  SIP telephony devices MUST support
          escaped Replaces-Header (RFC 3891) and SHOULD support other
          escaped headers in the Refer-To header.

  Req-20: SIP telephony devices MUST support the unattended call
          transfer flows as defined in [12].

  Req-21: SIP telephony devices MUST support the attended call transfer
          as defined in [12].

  Req-22: SIP telephony devices MAY support device-based 3-way calling
          by mixing the audio streams and displaying the interactive
          text of at least 2 separate calls.

  Req-23: SIP telephony devices MUST be able to send dual-tone multi-
          frequency (DTMF) named telephone events as specified by RFC
          2833 [13].

  Req-24: Payload type negotiation MUST comply with RFC 3264 [8] and
          with the registered MIME types for RTP payload formats in RFC
          3555 [14].

  Req-25: The dynamic payload type MUST remain constant throughout the
          session.  For example, if an endpoint decides to renegotiate
          codecs or put the call on hold, the payload type for the re-
          invite MUST be the same as the initial payload type.  SIP
          devices MAY support Flow Identification as defined in RFC
          3388 [15].

  Req-26: When acting as a User Agent Client (UAC), SIP telephony
          devices SHOULD support the gateway model of RFC 3960 [16].
          When acting as a User Agent Server (UAS), SIP telephony
          devices SHOULD NOT send early media.

  Req-27: SIP telephony devices MUST be able to handle multiple early
          dialogs in the context of request forking.  When a confirmed
          dialog has been established, it is an acceptable behavior to
          send a BYE request in response to additional 2xx responses
          that establish additional confirmed dialogs.

  Req-28: SIP devices with a suitable display SHOULD support the call-
          info header and depending on the display capabilities MAY,
          for example, display an icon or the image of the caller.







Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                      [Page 7]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


  Req-29: To provide additional information about call failures, SIP
          telephony devices with a suitable display MUST render the
          "Reason Phrase" of the SIP message or map the "Status Code"
          to custom or default messages.  This presumes the language
          for the reason phrase is the same as the negotiated language.
          The devices MAY use an internal "Status Code" table if there
          was a problem with the language negotiation.

  Req-30: SIP telephony devices MAY support music on hold, both in
          receive mode and locally generated.  See also "SIP Service
          Examples" for a call flow with music on hold [17].

  Req-31: SIP telephony devices MAY ring after a call has been on hold
          for a predetermined period of time, typically 3 minutes.

2.4.  Support for SIP Services

  Req-32: SIP telephony devices MUST support the SIP Basic Call Flow
          Examples as per RFC 3665 [17].

  Req-33: SIP telephony devices MUST support the SIP-PSTN Service
          Examples as per RFC 3666 [18].

  Req-34: SIP telephony devices MUST support the Third Party Call
          Control model [19], in the sense that they may be the
          controlled device.

  Req-35: SIP telephony devices SHOULD support SIP call control and
          multi-party usage [20].

  Req-36: SIP telephony devices SHOULD support conferencing services
          for voice [21], [22] and interactive text [23] and if
          equipped with an adequate display MAY also support instant
          messaging (IM) and presence [24], [25].

  Req-37: SIP telephony devices SHOULD support the indication of the
          User Agent capabilities and MUST support the caller
          capabilities and preferences as per RFC 3840 [26].

  Req-38: SIP telephony devices MAY support service mobility: Devices
          MAY allow roaming users to input their identity so as to have
          access to their services and preferences from the home SIP
          server.  Examples of user data to be available for roaming
          users are: user service ID, dialing plan, personal directory,
          and caller preferences.






Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                      [Page 8]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


2.5.  Basic Telephony and Presence Information Support

  The large color displays in some newer models make such SIP phones
  and applications attractive for a rich communication environment.
  This document is focused, however, only on telephony-specific
  features enabled by SIP Presence and SIP Events.

  SIP telephony devices can also support presence status, such as the
  traditional Do Not Disturb, new event state-based information, such
  as being in another call or being in a conference, typing a message,
  emoticons, etc.  Some SIP telephony User Agents can support, for
  example, a voice session and several IM sessions with different
  parties.

  Req-39: SIP telephony devices SHOULD support Presence information
          [24] and SHOULD support the Rich Presence Information Data
          Format [27] for the new IP communication services enabled by
          Presence.

  Req-40: Users MUST be able to set the state of the SIP telephony
          device to "Do Not Disturb", and this MAY be manifested as a
          Presence state across the network if the UA can support
          Presence information.

  Req-41: SIP telephony devices with "Do Not Disturb" enabled MUST
          respond to new sessions with "486 Busy Here".

2.6.  Emergency and Resource Priority Support

  Req-42: Emergency calling: For emergency numbers (e.g., 911, SOS
          URL), SIP telephony devices SHOULD support the work of the
          ECRIT WG [28].

  Req-43: Priority header: SIP devices SHOULD support the setting by
          the user of the Priority header specified in RFC 3261 for
          such applications as emergency calls or for selective call
          acceptance.

  Req-44: Resource Priority header: SIP telephony devices that are used
          in environments that support emergency preparedness MUST also
          support the sending and receiving of the Resource-Priority
          header as specified in [29].  The Resource Priority header
          influences the behavior for message routing in SIP proxies
          and PSTN telephony gateways and is different from the SIP
          Priority header specified in RFC 3261.  Users of SIP
          telephony devices may want to be interrupted in their lower-
          priority communications activities if such an emergency
          communication request arrives.



Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                      [Page 9]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


  Note: As of this writing, we recommend that implementers follow the
  work of the Working Group on Emergency Context Resolution with
  Internet Technologies (ecrit) in the IETF.  The complete solution is
  for further study at this time.  There is also work on the
  requirements for location conveyance in the SIPPING WG, see [30].

2.7.  Multi-Line Requirements

  A SIP telephony device can have multiple lines: One SIP telephony
  device can be registered simultaneously with different SIP registrars
  from different service providers, using different names and
  credentials for each line.  The different sets of names and
  credentials are also called 'SIP accounts'.  The "line" terminology
  has been borrowed from multi-line PSTN/PBX phones, except that for
  SIP telephony devices there can be different SIP registrars/proxies
  for each line, each of which may belong to a different service
  provider, whereas this would be an exceptional case for the PSTN and
  certainly not the case for PBX phones.  Multi-line SIP telephony
  devices resemble more closely e-mail clients that can support several
  e-mail accounts.

  Note: Each SIP account can usually support different Addresses of
  Record (AORs) with a different list of contact addresses (CAs), as
  may be convenient, for example, when having different SIP accounts
  for business and personal use.  However, some of the CAs in different
  SIP accounts may point to the same devices.

  Req-45: Multi-line SIP telephony devices MUST support a unique
          authentication username, authentication password, registrar,
          and identity to be provisioned for each line.  The
          authentication username MAY be identical with the user name
          of the AOR and the domain name MAY be identical with the host
          name of the registrar.

  Req-46: Multi-line SIP telephony devices MUST be able to support the
          state of the client to Do Not Disturb on a per line basis.

  Req-47: Multi-line SIP telephony devices MUST support multi-line call
          waiting indicators.  Devices MUST allow the call waiting
          indicator to be set on a per line basis.

  Req-48: Multi-line SIP telephony devices MUST be able to support a
          few different ring tones for different lines.  We specify
          here "a few", since provisioning different tones for all
          lines may be difficult for phones with many lines.






Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                     [Page 10]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


2.8.  User Mobility

  The following requirements allow users with a set of credentials to
  use any SIP telephony device that can support personal credentials
  from several users, distinct from the identity of the device.

  Req-49: User-mobility-enabled SIP telephony devices MUST store static
          credentials associated with the device in non-volatile
          memory.  This static profile is used during the power up
          sequence.

  Req-50: User-mobility-enabled SIP telephony devices SHOULD allow a
          user to walk up to a device and input their personal
          credentials.  All user features and settings stored in home
          SIP proxy and the associated policy server SHOULD be
          available to the user.

  Req-51: User-mobility-enabled SIP telephony devices registered as
          fixed desktop with network administrator MUST use the local
          static location data associated with the device for emergency
          calls.

2.9.  Interactive Text Support

  SIP telephony devices supporting instant messaging based on SIMPLE
  [24] support text conversation based on blocks of text.  However,
  continuous interactive text conversation may be sometimes preferred
  as a parallel to voice, due to its interactive and more streaming-
  like nature, and thus is more appropriate for real-time conversation.
  It also allows for text captioning of voice in noisy environments and
  for those who cannot hear well or cannot hear at all.

  Finally, continuous character-by-character text is preferred by
  emergency and public safety programs (e.g., 112 and 911) because of
  its immediacy, efficiency, lack of crossed messages problem, better
  ability to interact with a confused person, and the additional
  information that can be observed from watching the message as it is
  composed.

  Req-52: SIP telephony devices such as SIP display phones and IP-
          analog adapters SHOULD support the accessibility requirements
          for deaf, hard-of-hearing and speech-impaired individuals as
          per RFC 3351 [31] and also for interactive text conversation
          [23], [32].







Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                     [Page 11]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


  Req-53: SIP telephony devices SHOULD provide a way to input text and
          to display text through any reasonable method.  Built-in user
          interfaces, standard wired or wireless interfaces, and/or
          support for text through a web interface are all considered
          reasonable mechanisms.

  Req-54: SIP telephony devices SHOULD provide an external standard
          wired or wireless link to connect external input (keyboard,
          mouse) and display devices.

  Req-55: SIP telephony devices that include a display, or have a
          facility for connecting an external display, MUST include
          protocol support as described in RFC 4103 [23] for real-time
          interactive text.

  Req-56: There may be value in having RFC 4103 support in a terminal
          also without a visual display.  A synthetic voice output for
          the text conversation may be of value for all who can hear,
          and thereby provides the opportunity to have a text
          conversation with other users.

  Req-57: SIP telephony devices MAY provide analog adaptor
          functionality through an RJ-11 FXS port to support FXS
          devices.  If an RJ-11 (FXS) port is provided, then it MAY
          support a gateway function from all text-telephone protocols
          according to ITU-T Recommendation V.18 to RFC 4103 text
          conversation (in fact, this is encouraged in the near term
          during the transition to widespread use of SIP telephony
          devices).  If this gateway function is not included or fails,
          the device MUST pass through all text-telephone protocols
          according to ITU-T Recommendation V.18, November 2000, in a
          transparent fashion.

  Req-58: SIP telephony devices MAY provide a 2.5 mm audio port, in
          portable SIP devices, such as PDAs and various wireless SIP
          phones.

2.10.  Other Related Protocols

  Req-59: SIP telephony devices MUST support the Real-Time Protocol and
          the Real-Time Control Protocol, RFC 3550 [33].  SIP devices
          SHOULD use RTCP Extended Reports for logging and reporting on
          network support for voice quality, RFC 3611 [34] and MAY also
          support the RTCP summary report delivery [35].







Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                     [Page 12]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


2.11.  SIP Device Security Requirements

  Req-60: SIP telephony devices MUST support digest authentication as
          per RFC 3261.  In addition, SIP telephony devices MUST
          support Transport Layer Security (TLS) for secure transport
          [36] for scenarios where the SIP registrar is located outside
          the secure, private IP network in which the SIP UA may
          reside.  Note: TLS need not be used in every call, though.

  Req-61: SIP telephony devices MUST be able to password protect
          configuration information and administrative functions.

  Req-62: SIP telephony devices MUST NOT display the password to the
          user or administrator after it has been entered.

  Req-63: SIP clients MUST be able to disable remote access, i.e.,
          block incoming Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)
          (where this is supported), HTTP, and other services not
          necessary for basic operation.

  Req-64: SIP telephony devices MUST support the option to reject an
          incoming INVITE where the user-portion of the SIP request URI
          is blank or does not match a provisioned contact.  This
          provides protection against war-dialer attacks, unwanted
          telemarketing, and spam.  The setting to reject MUST be
          configurable.

  Req-65: When TLS is not used, SIP telephony devices MUST be able to
          reject an incoming INVITE when the message does not come from
          the proxy or proxies where the client is registered.  This
          prevents callers from bypassing terminating call features on
          the proxy.  For DNS SRV specified proxy addresses, the client
          must accept an INVITE from all of the resolved proxy IP
          addresses.

2.12.  Quality of Service

  Req-66: SIP devices MUST support the IPv4 Differentiated Services
          Code Point (DSCP) field for RTP streams as per RFC 2597 [37].
          The DSCP setting MUST be configurable to conform with the
          local network policy.

  Req-67: If not specifically provisioned, SIP telephony devices SHOULD
          mark RTP packets with the recommended DSCP for expedited
          forwarding (codepoint 101110) and mark SIP packets with DSCP
          AF31 (codepoint 011010).





Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                     [Page 13]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


  Req-68: SIP telephony devices MAY support Resource Reservation
          Protocol (RSVP) [38].

2.13.  Media Requirements

  Req-69: To simplify the interoperability issues, SIP telephony
          devices MUST use the first matching codec listed by the
          receiver if the requested codec is available in the called
          device.  See the offer/answer model in RFC 3261.

  Req-70: To reduce overall bandwidth, SIP telephony devices MAY
          support active voice detection and comfort noise generation.

2.14.  Voice Codecs

  Internet telephony devices face the problem of supporting multiple
  codecs due to various historic reasons, on how telecom industry
  players have approached codec implementations and the serious
  intellectual property and licensing problems associated with most
  codec types.  For example, RFC 3551 [39] lists 17 registered MIME
  subtypes for audio codecs.

  Ideally, the more codecs can be supported in a SIP telephony device,
  the better, since it enhances the chances of success during the codec
  negotiation at call setup and avoids media intermediaries used for
  codec mediation.

  Implementers interested in a short list MAY, however, support a
  minimal number of codecs used in wireline Voice over IP (VoIP), and
  also codecs found in mobile networks for which the SIP UA is
  targeted.  An ordered short list of preferences may look as follows:

  Req-71: SIP telephony devices SHOULD support Audio/Video Transport
          (AVT) payload type 0 (G.711 uLaw) as in [40] and its Annexes
          1 and 2.

  Req-72: SIP telephony devices SHOULD support the Internet Low Bit
          Rate codec (iLBC) [41], [42].

  Req-73: Mobile SIP telephony devices MAY support codecs found in
          various wireless mobile networks.  This can avoid codec
          conversion in network-based intermediaries.

  Req-74: SIP telephony devices MAY support a small set of special
          purpose codecs, such as G.723.1, where low bandwidth usage is
          needed (for dial-up Internet access), Speex [43], or G.722
          for high-quality audio conferences.




Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                     [Page 14]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


  Req-75: SIP telephony devices MAY support G.729 and its annexes.
          Note: The G.729 codec is included here for backward
          compatibility only, since the iLBC and the G.723.1 codecs are
          preferable in bandwidth-constrained environments.

          Note: The authors believe the Internet Low Bit Rate codec
          (iLBC) should be the default codec for Internet telephony.

          A summary count reveals up to 25 and more voice codec types
          currently in use.  The authors believe there is also a need
          for a single multi-rate Internet codec, such as Speex or
          similar that can effectively be substituted for all of the
          multiple legacy G.7xx codec types, such as G.711, G.729,
          G.723.1, G.722, etc., for various data rates, thus avoiding
          the complexity and cost to implementers and service providers
          alike who are burdened by supporting so many codec types,
          besides the licensing costs.

2.15.  Telephony Sound Requirements

  Req-76: SIP telephony devices SHOULD comply with the handset receive
          comfort noise requirements outlined in the ANSI standards
          [44], [45].

  Req-77: SIP telephony devices SHOULD comply with the stability or
          minimum loss defined in ITU-T G.177.

  Req-78: SIP telephony devices MAY support a full-duplex speakerphone
          function with echo and side tone cancellation.  The design of
          high-quality side tone cancellation for desktop IP phones,
          laptop computers, and PDAs is outside the scope of this memo.

  Req-79: SIP telephony device MAY support different ring tones based
          on the caller identity.

2.16.  International Requirements

  Req-80: SIP telephony devices SHOULD indicate the preferred language
          [46] using User Agent capabilities [26].

  Req-81: SIP telephony devices intended to be used in various language
          settings MUST support other languages for menus, help, and
          labels.








Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                     [Page 15]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


2.17.  Support for Related Applications

  The following requirements apply to functions placed in the SIP
  telephony device.

  Req-82: SIP telephony devices that have a large display and support
          presence SHOULD display a buddy list [24].

  Req-83: SIP telephony devices MAY support Lightweight Directory
          Access Protocol (LDAP) for client-based directory lookup.

  Req-84: SIP telephony devices MAY support a phone setup where a URL
          is automatically dialed when the phone goes off-hook.

2.18.  Web-Based Feature Management

  Req-85: SIP telephony devices SHOULD support an internal web server
          to allow users the option to manually configure the phone and
          to set up personal phone applications such as the address
          book, speed-dial, ring tones, and, last but not least, the
          call handling options for the various lines and aliases, in a
          user-friendly fashion.  Web pages to manage the SIP telephony
          device SHOULD be supported by the individual device, or MAY
          be supported in managed networks from centralized web servers
          linked from a URI.

          Managing SIP telephony devices SHOULD NOT require special
          client software on the PC or require a dedicated management
          console.  SIP telephony devices SHOULD support https
          transport for this purpose.

          In addition to the Web Based Feature Management requirement,
          the device MAY have an SNMP interface for monitoring and
          management purposes.

2.19.  Firewall and NAT Traversal

  The following requirements allow SIP clients to properly function
  behind various firewall architectures.

  Req-86: SIP telephony devices SHOULD be able to operate behind a
          static Network Address Translation/Port Address Translation
          (NAPT) device.  This implies the SIP telephony device SHOULD
          be able to 1) populate SIP messages with the public, external
          address of the NAPT device; 2) use symmetric UDP or TCP for
          signaling; and 3) use symmetric RTP [47].





Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                     [Page 16]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


  Req-87: SIP telephony devices SHOULD support the Simple Traversal of
          UDP through NATs (STUN) protocol [48] for determining the
          NAPT public external address.  A classification of scenarios
          and NATs where STUN is effective is reported in [49].
          Detailed call flows for interactive connectivity
          establishment (ICE) [50] are given in [51].

          Note: Developers are strongly advised to follow the document
          on best current practices for NAT traversal for SIP [51].

  Req-88: SIP telephony devices MAY support UPnP (http://www.upnp.org/)
          for local NAPT traversal.  Note that UPnP does not help if
          there is NAPT in the network of the service provider.

  Req-89: SIP telephony devices MUST be able to limit the ports used
          for RTP to a provisioned range.

2.20.  Device Interfaces

  Req-90: SIP telephony devices MUST support two types of addressing
          capabilities, to enable end users to "dial" either phone
          numbers or URIs.

  Req-91: SIP telephony devices MUST have a telephony-like dial-pad and
          MAY have telephony-style buttons such as mute, redial,
          transfer, conference, hold, etc.  The traditional telephony
          dial-pad interface MAY appear as an option in large-screen
          telephony devices using other interface models, such as
          Push-To-Talk in mobile phones and the Presence and IM
          graphical user interface (GUI) found in PCs, PDAs, mobile
          phones, and cordless phones.

  Req-92: SIP telephony devices MUST have a convenient way for entering
          SIP URIs and phone numbers.  This includes all alphanumeric
          characters allowed in legal SIP URIs.  Possible approaches
          include using a web page, display and keyboard entry, type-
          ahead, or graffiti for PDAs.

  Req-93: SIP telephony devices should allow phone number entry in
          human-friendly fashion, with the usual separators and
          brackets between digits and digit groups.










Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                     [Page 17]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


3.  Glossary and Usage for the Configuration Settings

  SIP telephony devices are quite complex, and their configuration is
  made more difficult by the widely diverse use of technical terms for
  the settings.  We present here a glossary of the most common settings
  and some of the more widely used values for some settings.

  Settings are the information on a SIP UA that it needs so as to be a
  functional SIP endpoint.  The settings defined in this document are
  not intended to be a complete listing of all possible settings.  It
  MUST be possible to add vendor-specific settings.

  The list of available settings includes settings that MUST, SHOULD,
  or MAY be used by all devices (when present) and that make up the
  common denominator that is used and understood by all devices.
  However, the list is open to vendor-specific extensions that support
  additional settings, which enable a rich and valuable set of
  features.

  Settings MAY be read-only on the device.  This avoids the
  misconfiguration of important settings by inexperienced users
  generating service cost for operators.  The settings provisioning
  process SHOULD indicate which settings can be changed by the end user
  and which settings should be protected.

  In order to achieve wide adoption of any settings format, it is
  important that it should not be excessive in size for modest devices
  to use it.  Any format SHOULD be structured enough to allow flexible
  extensions to it by vendors.  Settings may belong to the device or to
  a SIP service provider and the Address of Record (AOR) registered
  there.  When the device acts in the context of an AOR, it will first
  try to look up a setting in the AOR context.  If the setting cannot
  be found in that context, the device will try to find the setting in
  the device context.  If that also fails, the device MAY use a default
  value for the setting.

  The examples shown here are just of informational nature.  Other
  documents may specify the syntax and semantics for the respective
  settings.

3.1.  Device ID

  A device setting MAY include some unique identifier for the device it
  represents.  This MAY be an arbitrary device name chosen by the user,
  the MAC address, some manufacturer serial number, or some other
  unique piece of data.  The Device ID SHOULD also indicate the ID
  type.
  Example: DeviceId="000413100A10;type=MAC"



Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                     [Page 18]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


3.2.  Signaling Port

  The port that will be used for a specific transport protocol for SIP
  MAY be indicated with the SIP ports setting.  If this setting is
  omitted, the device MAY choose any port within a range as specified
  in 3.3. For UDP, the port may also be used for sending requests so
  that NAT devices will be able to route the responses back to the UA.
  Example: SIPPort="5060;transport=UDP"

3.3.  RTP Port Range

  A range of port numbers MUST be used by a device for the consecutive
  pairs of ports that MUST be used to receive audio and control
  information (RTP and RTCP) for each concurrent connection.  Sometimes
  this is required to support firewall traversal, and it helps network
  operators to identify voice packets.
  Example: RTPPorts="50000-51000"

3.4.  Quality of Service

  The Quality of Service (QoS) settings for outbound packets SHOULD be
  configurable for network packets associated with call signaling (SIP)
  and media transport (RTP/RTCP).  These settings help network
  operators in identifying voice packets in their network and allow
  them to transport them with the required QoS.  The settings are
  independently configurable for the different transport layers and
  signaling, media, or administration.  The QoS settings SHOULD also
  include the QoS mechanism.

  For both categories of network traffic, the device SHOULD permit
  configuration of the type of service settings for both layer 3 (IP
  DiffServ) and layer 2 (for example, IEEE 802.1D/Q) of the network
  protocol stack.
  Example: RTPQoS="0xA0;type=DiffSrv,5;type=802.1DQ;vlan=324"

3.5.  Default Call Handling

  All of the call handling settings defined below can be defined here
  as default behaviors.

3.5.1.  Outbound Proxy

  The outbound proxy for a device MAY be set.  The setting MAY require
  that all signaling packets MUST be sent to the outbound proxy or that
  only in the case when no route has been received the outbound proxy
  MUST be used.  This ensures that application layer gateways are in





Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                     [Page 19]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


  the signaling path.  The second requirement allows the optimization
  of the routing by the outbound proxy.
  Example: OutboundProxy="sip:nat.proxy.com"

3.5.2.  Default Outbound Proxy

  The default outbound proxy SHOULD be a global setting (not related to
  a specific line).
  Example: DefaultProxy="sip:[email protected]"

3.5.3.  SIP Session Timer

  The re-invite timer allows User Agents to detect broken sessions
  caused by network failures.  A value indicating the number of seconds
  for the next re-invite SHOULD be used if provided.
  Example: SessionTimer="600;unit=seconds"

3.6.  Telephone Dialing Functions

  As most telephone users are used to dialing digits to indicate the
  address of the destination, there is a need for specifying the rule
  by which digits are transformed into a URI (usually SIP URI or TEL
  URI).

3.6.1.  Phone Number Representations

  SIP phones need to understand entries in the phone book of the most
  common separators used between dialed digits, such as spaces, angle
  and round brackets, dashes, and dots.
  Example: A phonebook entry of "+49(30)398.33-401" should be
  translated into "+493039833401".

3.6.2.  Digit Maps and/or the Dial/OK Key

  A SIP UA needs to translate user input before it can generate a valid
  request.  Digit maps are settings that describe the parameters of
  this process.  If present, digit maps define patterns that when
  matched define the following:

  1) A rule by which the endpoint can judge that the user has completed
     dialing, and
  2) A rule to construct a URI from the dialed digits, and optionally
  3) An outbound proxy to be used in routing the SIP INVITE.

  A critical timer MAY be provided that determines how long the device
  SHOULD wait before dialing if a dial plan contains a T (Timer)
  character.  It MAY also provide a timer for the maximum elapsed time
  that SHOULD pass before dialing if the digits entered by the user



Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                     [Page 20]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


  match no dial plan.  If the UA has a Dial or OK key, pressing this
  key will override the timer setting.

  SIP telephony devices SHOULD have a Dial/OK key.  After sending a
  request, the UA SHOULD be prepared to receive a 484 Address
  Incomplete response.  In this case, the UA should accept more user
  input and try again to dial the number.

  An example digit map could use regular expressions like in DNS NAPTR
  (RFC 2915) to translate user input into a SIP URL.  Additional
  replacement patterns like "d" could insert the domain name of the
  used AOR.  Additional parameters could be inserted in the flags
  portion of the substitution expression.  A list of those patterns
  would make up the dial plan:

  |^([0-9]*)#$|sip:\1@\d;user=phone|outbound=proxy.com
  |^([a-zA-Z0-9&=+\$,;?\-_.!~*'()%]+@.+)|sip:\1|
  |^([a-zA-Z0-9&=+\$,;?\-_.!~*'()%]+)$|sip:\1@\d|
  |^(.*)$|sip:\1@\d|timeout=5

3.6.3.  Default Digit Map

  The SIP telephony device SHOULD support the configuration of a
  default digit map.  If the SIP telephony device does not support
  digit maps, it SHOULD at least support a default digit map rule to
  construct a URI from digits.  If the endpoint does support digit
  maps, this rule applies if none of the digit maps match.

  For example, when a user enters "12345", the UA might send the
  request to "sip:[email protected];user=phone" after the user presses
  the OK key.

3.7.  SIP Timer Settings

  The parameters for SIP (like timer T1) and other related settings MAY
  be indicated.  An example of usage would be the reduction of the DNS
  SRV failover time.
  Example: SIPTimer="t1=100;unit=ms"

  Note: The timer settings can be included in the digit map.

3.8.  Audio Codecs

  In some cases, operators want to control which codecs may be used in
  their network.  The desired subset of codecs supported by the device
  SHOULD be configurable along with the order of preference.  Service
  providers SHOULD have the possibility of plugging in their own codecs




Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                     [Page 21]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


  of choice.  The codec settings MAY include the packet length and
  other parameters like silence suppression or comfort noise
  generation.

  The set of available codecs will be used in the codec negotiation
  according to RFC 3264.
  Example: Codecs="speex/8000;ptime=20;cng=on,gsm;ptime=30"

  The settings MUST include hints about privacy for audio using Secure
  Realtime Transport Protocol (SRTP) that either mandate or encourage
  the usage of secure RTP.
  Example: SRTP="mandatory"

3.9.  DTMF Method

  Keyboard interaction can be indicated with in-band tones or
  preferably with out-of-band RTP packets (RFC 2833 [13]).  The method
  for sending these events SHOULD be configurable with the order of
  precedence.  Settings MAY include additional parameters like the
  content-type that should be used.
  Example: DTMFMethod="INFO;type=application/dtmf, RFC2833".

3.10.  Local and Regional Parameters

  Certain settings are dependent upon the regional location for the
  daylight saving time rules and for the time zone.

  Time Zone and UTC Offset: A time zone MAY be specified for the user.
  Where one is specified; it SHOULD use the schema used by the Olson
  Time One database [52].

  Examples of the database naming scheme are Asia/Dubai or America/Los
  Angeles where the first part of the name is the continent or ocean
  and the second part is normally the largest city in that time zone.
  Optional parameters like the UTC offset may provide additional
  information for UAs that are not able to map the time zone
  information to a internal database.
  Example: TimeZone="Asia/Dubai;offset=7200"

3.11.  Time Server

  A time server SHOULD be used.  DHCP is the preferred way to provide
  this setting.  Optional parameters may indicate the protocol that
  SHOULD be used for determining the time.  If present, the DHCP time
  server setting has higher precedence than the time server setting.
  Example: TimeServer="12.34.5.2;protocol=NTP"





Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                     [Page 22]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


3.12.  Language

  Setting the correct language is important for simple installation
  around the globe.

  A language setting SHOULD be specified for the whole device.  Where
  it is specified, it MUST use the codes defined in RFC 3066 to provide
  some predictability.
  Example: Language="de"

  It is recommended to set the language as writable, so that the user
  MAY change this.  This setting SHOULD NOT be AOR related.

  A SIP UA MUST be able to parse and accept requests containing
  international characters encoded as UTF-8 even if it cannot display
  those characters in the user interface.

3.13.  Inbound Authentication

  SIP allows a device to limit incoming signaling to those made by a
  predefined set of authorized users from a list and/or with valid
  passwords.  Note that the inbound proxy from most service providers
  may also support the screening of incoming calls, but in some cases
  users may want to have control in the SIP telephony device for the
  screening.

  A device SHOULD support the setting as to whether authentication (on
  the device) is required and what type of authentication is required.
  Example: InboundAuthentication="digest;pattern=*"

  If inbound authentication is enabled, then a list of allowed users
  and credentials to call this device MAY be used by the device.  The
  credentials MAY contain the same data as the credentials for an AOR
  (i.e., URL, user, password digest, and domain).  This applies to SIP
  control signaling as well as call initiation.

3.14.  Voice Message Settings

  Various voice message settings require the use of URIs for the
  service context as specified in RFC 3087 [53].

  The message waiting indicator (MWI) address setting controls where
  the client SHOULD SUBSCRIBE to a voice message server and what MWI
  summaries MAY be displayed [9].
  Example: MWISubscribe="sip:[email protected]"






Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                     [Page 23]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


  User Agents SHOULD accept MWI information carried by SIP MESSAGE
  without prior subscription.  This way the setup of voice message
  settings can be avoided.

3.15.  Phonebook and Call History

  The UA SHOULD have a phonebook and keep a history of recent calls.
  The phonebook SHOULD save the information in permanent memory that
  keeps the information even after restarting the device or save the
  information in an external database that permanently stores the
  information.

3.16.  User-Related Settings and Mobility

  A device MAY specify the user that is currently registered on the
  device.  This SHOULD be an address-of-record URL specified in an AOR
  definition.

  The purpose of specifying which user is currently assigned to this
  device is to provide the device with the identity of the user whose
  settings are defined in the user section.  This is primarily
  interesting with regards to user roaming.  Devices MAY allow users to
  sign on to them and then request that their particular settings be
  retrieved.  Likewise, a user MAY stop using a device and want to
  disable their AOR while not present.  For the device to understand
  what to do, it MUST have some way of identifying users and knowing
  which user is currently using it.  By separating the user and device
  properties, it becomes clear what the user wishes to enable or to
  disable.  Providing an identifier in the configuration for the user
  gives an explicit handle for the user.  For this to work, the device
  MUST have some way of identifying users and knowing which user is
  currently assigned to it.

  One possible scenario for roaming is an agent who has definitions for
  several AORs (e.g., one or more personal AORs and one for each
  executive for whom the administrator takes calls) that they are
  registered for.  If the agent goes to the copy room, they would sign
  on to a device in that room and their user settings including their
  AOR would roam with them.

  The alternative to this is to require the agent to individually
  configure each of the AORs (this would be particularly irksome using
  standard telephone button entry).

  The management of user profiles, aggregation of user or device AOR,
  and profile information from multiple management sources are
  configuration server concerns that are out of the scope of this
  document.  However, the ability to uniquely identify the device and



Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                     [Page 24]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


  user within the configuration data enables easier server-based as
  well as local (i.e., on the device) configuration management of the
  configuration data.

3.17.  AOR-Related Settings

  SIP telephony devices MUST use the AOR-related settings, as specified
  here.

  There are many properties which MAY be associated with or SHOULD be
  applied to the AOR or signaling addressed to or from the AOR.  AORs
  MAY be defined for a device or a user of the device.  At least one
  AOR MUST be defined in the settings; this MAY pertain to either the
  device itself or the user.
  Example: AOR="sip:[email protected]"

  It MUST be possible to specify at least one set of domain, user name,
  and authentication credentials for each AOR.  The user name and
  authentication credentials are used for authentication challenges.

3.18.  Maximum Connections

  A setting defining the maximum number of simultaneous connections
  that a device can support MUST be used by the device.  The endpoint
  might have some maximum limit, most likely determined by the media
  handling capability.  The number of simultaneous connections may be
  also limited by the access bandwidth, such as of DSL, cable, and
  wireless users.  Other optional settings MAY include the enabling or
  disabling of call waiting indication.

  A SIP telephony device MAY support at least two connections for
  three-way conference calls that are locally hosted.
  Example: MaximumConnections="2;cwi=false;bw=128".

  See the recent work on connection reuse [54] and the guidelines for
  connection-oriented transport for SIP [55].

3.19.  Automatic Configuration and Upgrade

  Automatic SIP telephony device configuration SHOULD use the processes
  and requirements described in [56].  The user name or the realm in
  the domain name SHOULD be used by the configuration server to
  automatically configure the device for individual- or group-specific
  settings, without any configuration by the user.  Image and service
  data upgrades SHOULD also not require any settings by the user.






Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                     [Page 25]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


3.20.  Security Configurations

  The device configuration usually contains sensitive information that
  MUST be protected.  Examples include authentication information,
  private address books, and call history entries.  Because of this, it
  is RECOMMENDED to use an encrypted transport mechanism for
  configuration data.  Where devices use HTTP, this could be TLS.

  For devices which use FTP or TFTP for content delivery this can be
  achieved using symmetric key encryption.

  Access to retrieving configuration information is also an important
  issue.  A configuration server SHOULD challenge a subscriber before
  sending configuration information.

  The configuration server SHOULD NOT include passwords through the
  automatic configuration process.  Users SHOULD enter the passwords
  locally.

4.  Security Considerations

4.1.  Threats and Problem Statement

  While Section 2.11 states the minimal security requirements and
  NAT/firewall traversal that have to be met respectively by SIP
  telephony devices, developers and network managers have to be aware
  of the larger context of security for IP telephony, especially for
  those scenarios where security may reside in other parts of SIP-
  enabled networks.

  Users of SIP telephony devices are exposed to many threats [57] that
  include but are not limited to fake identity of callers,
  telemarketing, spam in IM, hijacking of calls, eavesdropping, and
  learning of private information such as the personal phone directory,
  user accounts and passwords, and the personal calling history.
  Various denial of service (DoS) attacks are possible, such as hanging
  up on other people's conversations or contributing to DoS attacks of
  others.

  Service providers are also exposed to many types of attacks that
  include but are not limited to theft of service by users with fake
  identities, DoS attacks, and the liabilities due to theft of private
  customer data and eavesdropping in which poorly secured SIP telephony
  devices or especially intermediaries such as stateful back-to-back
  user agents with media (B2BUA) may be implicated.






Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                     [Page 26]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


  SIP security is a hard problem for several reasons:

     o Peers can communicate across domains without any pre-arranged
       trust relationship.
     o There may be many intermediaries in the signaling path.
     o Multiple endpoints can be involved in such telephony operations
       as forwarding, forking, transfer, or conferencing.
     o There are seemingly conflicting service requirements when
       supporting anonymity, legal intercept, call trace, and privacy.
     o Complications arise from the need to traverse NATs and
       firewalls.

  There are a large number of deployment scenarios in enterprise
  networks, using residential networks and employees using Virtual
  Private Network (VPN) access to the corporate network when working
  from home or while traveling.  There are different security scenarios
  for each.  The security expectations are also very different, say,
  within an enterprise network or when using a laptop in a public
  wireless hotspot, and it is beyond the scope of this memo to describe
  all possible scenarios in detail.

  The authors believe that adequate security for SIP telephony devices
  can be best implemented within protected networks, be they private IP
  networks or service provider SIP-enabled networks where a large part
  of the security threats listed here are dealt with in the protected
  network.  A more general security discussion that includes network-
  based security features, such as network-based assertion of identity
  [58] and privacy services [7], is outside the scope of this memo, but
  must be well understood by developers, network managers, and service
  providers.

  In the following, some basic security considerations as specified in
  RFC 3261 are discussed as they apply to SIP telephony devices.

4.2.  SIP Telephony Device Security

  Transport Level Security
        SIP telephony devices that operate outside the perimeter of
        secure private IP networks (this includes telecommuters and
        roaming users) MUST use TLS to the outgoing SIP proxy for
        protection on the first hop.  SIP telephony devices that use
        TLS must support SIPS in the SIP headers.

        Supporting large numbers of TLS channels to endpoints is quite
        a burden for service providers and may therefore constitute a
        premium service feature.





Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                     [Page 27]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


  Digest Authentication
        SIP telephony devices MUST support digest authentication to
        register with the outgoing SIP registrar.  This ensures proper
        identity credentials that can be conveyed by the network to the
        called party.  It is assumed that the service provider
        operating the outgoing SIP registrar has an adequate trust
        relationship with its users and knows its customers well enough
        (identity, address, billing relationship, etc.).  The
        exceptions are users of prepaid service.  SIP telephony devices
        that accept prepaid calls MUST place "unknown" in the "From"
        header.

  End User Certificates
        SIP telephony devices MAY store personal end user certificates
        that are part of some Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) [59]
        service for high-security identification to the outgoing SIP
        registrar as well as for end-to-end authentication.  SIP
        telephony devices equipped for certificate-based authentication
        MUST also store a key ring of certificates from public
        certificate authorities (CAs).

        Note the recent work in the IETF on certificate services that
        do not require the telephony devices to store certificates
        [60].

  End-to-End Security Using S/MIME
        S/MIME [61] MUST be supported by SIP telephony devices to sign
        and encrypt portions of the SIP message that are not strictly
        required for routing by intermediaries.  S/MIME protects
        private information in the SIP bodies and in some SIP headers
        from intermediaries.  The end user certificates required for
        S/MIME ensure the identity of the parties to each other.  Note:
        S/MIME need not be used, though, in every call.

4.3.  Privacy

  Media Encryption
        Secure RTP (SRTP) [62] MAY be used for the encryption of media
        such as audio, text, and video, after the keying information
        has been passed by SIP signaling.  Instant messaging MAY be
        protected end-to-end using S/MIME.

4.4.  Support for NAT and Firewall Traversal

  The various NAT and firewall traversal scenarios require support in
  telephony SIP devices.  The best current practices for NAT traversal
  for SIP are reviewed in [51].  Most scenarios where there are no
  SIP-enabled network edge NAT/firewalls or gateways in the enterprise



Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                     [Page 28]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


  can be managed if there is a STUN client in the SIP telephony device
  and a STUN server on the Internet, maintained by a service provider.
  In some exceptional cases (legacy symmetric NAT), an external media
  relay must also be provided that can support the Traversal Using
  Relay NAT (TURN) protocol exchange with SIP telephony devices.  Media
  relays such as TURN come at a high bandwidth cost to the service
  provider, since the bandwidth for many active SIP telephony devices
  must be supported.  Media relays may also introduce longer paths with
  additional delays for voice.

  Due to these disadvantages of media relays, it is preferable to avoid
  symmetric and non-deterministic NATs in the network, so that only
  STUN can be used, where required.  Reference [63] deals in more
  detail how NAT has to 'behave'.

  It is not always obvious to determine the specific NAT and firewall
  scenario under which a SIP telephony device may operate.

  For this reason, the support for Interactive Connectivity
  Establishment (ICE) has been defined to be deployed in all devices
  that required end-to-end connectivity for SIP signaling and RTP media
  streams, as well as for streaming media using Real Time Streaming
  Protocol (RTSP).  ICE makes use of existing protocols, such as STUN
  and TURN.

  Call flows using SIP security mechanisms
        The high-level security aspects described here are best
        illustrated by inspecting the detailed call flows using SIP
        security, such as in [64].

  Security enhancements, certificates, and identity management
        As of this writing, recent work in the IETF deals with the SIP
        Authenticated Identity Body (AIB) format [65], new S/MIME
        requirements, enhancements for the authenticated identity, and
        Certificate Management Services for SIP.  We recommend
        developers and network managers to follow this work as it will
        develop into IETF standards.

5.  Acknowledgements

  Paul Kyzivat and Francois Audet have made useful comments how to
  support to the dial plan requirements in Req-17.  Mary Barnes has
  kindly made a very detailed review of version 04 that has contributed
  to significantly improving the document.  Useful comments on version
  05 have also been made by Ted Hardie, David Kessens, Russ Housley,
  and Harald Alvestrand that are reflected in this version of the
  document.




Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                     [Page 29]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


  We would like to thank Jon Peterson for very detailed comments on the
  previous version 0.3 that has prompted the rewriting of much of this
  document.  John Elwell has contributed with many detailed comments on
  version 04 of the document.  Rohan Mahy has contributed several
  clarifications to the document and leadership in the discussions on
  support for the hearing disabled.  These discussions have been
  concluded during the BOF on SIP Devices held during the 57th IETF,
  and the conclusions are reflected in the section on interactive text
  support for hearing- or speech-disabled users.

  Gunnar Hellstrom, Arnoud van Wijk, and Guido Gybels have been
  instrumental in driving the specification for support of the hearing
  disabled.

  The authors would also like to thank numerous persons for
  contributions and comments to this work: Henning Schulzrinne, Jorgen
  Bjorkner, Jay Batson, Eric Tremblay, David Oran, Denise Caballero
  McCann, Brian Rosen, Jean Brierre, Kai Miao, Adrian Lewis, and Franz
  Edler.  Jonathan Knight has contributed significantly to earlier
  versions of the requirements for SIP phones.  Peter Baker has also
  provided valuable pointers to TIA/EIA IS 811 requirements to IP
  phones that are referenced here.

  Last but not least, the co-authors of the previous versions, Daniel
  Petrie and Ian Butcher, have provided support and guidance all along
  in the development of these requirements.  Their contributions are
  now the focus of separate documents.
























Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                     [Page 30]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


6.  Informative References

  [1]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement
       Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

  [2]  Rosenberg, J., Schulzrinne, H., Camarillo, G., Johnston, A.,
       Peterson, J., Sparks, R., Handley, M., and E. Schooler, "SIP:
       Session Initiation Protocol", RFC 3261, June 2002.

  [3]  Lemon, T. and S. Cheshire, "Encoding Long Options in the Dynamic
       Host Configuration Protocol (DHCPv4)", RFC 3396, November 2002.

  [4]  Mills, D., "Simple Network Time Protocol (SNTP) Version 4 for
       IPv4, IPv6 and OSI", RFC 4330, January 2006.

  [5]  Rosenberg, J. and H. Schulzrinne, "Session Initiation Protocol
       (SIP): Locating SIP Servers", RFC 3263, June 2002.

  [6]  Peterson, J., "enumservice registration for Session Initiation
       Protocol (SIP) Addresses-of-Record", RFC 3764, April 2004.

  [7]  Peterson, J., "A Privacy Mechanism for the Session Initiation
       Protocol (SIP)", RFC 3323, November 2002.

  [8]  Rosenberg, J. and H. Schulzrinne, "An Offer/Answer Model with
       Session Description Protocol (SDP)", RFC 3264, June 2002.

  [9]  Mahy, R., "A Message Summary and Message Waiting Indication
       Event Package for the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)", RFC
       3842, August 2004.

  [10] Schulzrinne, H., "The tel URI for Telephone Numbers", RFC 3966,
       December 2004.

  [11] Sparks, R., "The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Refer
       Method", RFC 3515, April 2003.

  [12] Johnston, A., "SIP Service Examples", Work in Progress, March
       2006.

  [13] Schulzrinne, H. and S. Petrack, "RTP Payload for DTMF Digits,
       Telephony Tones and Telephony Signals", RFC 2833, May 2000.

  [14] Casner, S. and P. Hoschka, "MIME Type Registration of RTP
       Payload Formats", RFC 3555, July 2003.






Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                     [Page 31]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


  [15] Camarillo, G., Eriksson, G., Holler, J., and H. Schulzrinne,
       "Grouping of Media Lines in the Session Description Protocol
       (SDP)", RFC 3388, December 2002.

  [16] Camarillo, G. and H. Schulzrinne, "Early Media and Ringing Tone
       Generation in the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)", RFC 3960,
       December 2004.

  [17] Johnston, A., Donovan, S., Sparks, R., Cunningham, C., and K.
       Summers, "Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Basic Call Flow
       Examples", BCP 75, RFC 3665, December 2003.

  [18] Johnston, A., Donovan, S., Sparks, R., Cunningham, C., and K.
       Summers, "Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Public Switched
       Telephone Network (PSTN) Call Flows", BCP 76, RFC 3666, December
       2003.

  [19] Rosenberg, J., Peterson, J., Schulzrinne, H., and G. Camarillo,
       "Best Current Practices for Third Party Call Control (3pcc) in
       the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)", BCP 85, RFC 3725, April
       2004.

  [20] Mahy, R., et al., "A Call Control and Multi-party usage
       framework for the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)", Work in
       Progress, March 2006.

  [21] Johnston, A. and O. Levin, "Session Initiation Protocol Call
       Control - Conferencing for User Agents", Work in Progress,
       October 2005.

  [22] Even, R. and N. Ismail, "Conferencing Scenarios", Work in
       Progress, September 2005.

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

  [24] Campbell, B., Rosenberg, J., Schulzrinne, H., Huitema, C., and
       D. Gurle, "Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Extension for
       Instant Messaging", RFC 3428, December 2002.

  [25] Rosenberg, J., "A Presence Event Package for the Session
       Initiation Protocol (SIP)", RFC 3856, August 2004.

  [26] Rosenberg, J., Schulzrinne, H., and P. Kyzivat, "Indicating User
       Agent Capabilities in the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)",
       RFC 3840, August 2004.





Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                     [Page 32]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


  [27] Schulzrinne, H., Gurbani, V., Kyzivat, P., and J. Rosenberg,
       "RPID: Rich Presence Extensions to the Presence Information Data
       Format (PIDF)", Work in Progress, September 2005.

  [28] See the Working Group on Emergency Context Resolution with
       Internet Technologies at
       http://www.ietf.org/html.charters/ecrit-charter.html

  [29] Schulzrinne, H. and J. Polk, "Communications Resource Priority
       for the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)", RFC 4412, February
       2006.

  [30] Polk, J. and B. Rosen, "Session Initiation Protocol Location
       Conveyance", Work in Progress, July 2005.

  [31] Charlton, N., Gasson, M., Gybels, G., Spanner, M., and A. van
       Wijk, "User Requirements for the Session Initiation Protocol
       (SIP) in Support of Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Speech-impaired
       Individuals", RFC 3351, August 2002.

  [32] van Wijk, A., "Framework of requirements for real-time text
       conversation using SIP", Work in Progress, September 2005.

  [33] Schulzrinne, H., Casner, S., Frederick, R., and V. Jacobson,
       "RTP: A Transport Protocol for Real-Time Applications", STD 64,
       RFC 3550, July 2003.

  [34] Friedman, T., Caceres, R., and A. Clark, "RTP Control Protocol
       Extended Reports (RTCP XR)", RFC 3611, November 2003.

  [35] Pendleton, A., "SIP Package for Quality Reporting Event", Work
       in Progress, February 2006.

  [36] Dierks, T. and C. Allen, "The TLS Protocol Version 1.0", RFC
       2246, January 1999.

  [37] Heinanen, J., Baker, F., Weiss, W., and J. Wroclawski, "Assured
       Forwarding PHB Group", RFC 2597, June 1999.

  [38] Braden, R., Zhang, L., Berson, S., Herzog, S., and S. Jamin,
       "Resource ReSerVation Protocol (RSVP) -- Version 1 Functional
       Specification", RFC 2205, September 1997.

  [39] Schulzrinne, H. and S. Casner, "RTP Profile for Audio and Video
       Conferences with Minimal Control", STD 65, RFC 3551, July 2003.

  [40] ITU-T Recommendation G.711, available online at
       http://www.itu.int.



Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                     [Page 33]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


  [41] Andersen, S., Duric, A., Astrom, H., Hagen, R., Kleijn, W., and
       J. Linden, "Internet Low Bit Rate Codec (iLBC)", RFC 3951,
       December 2004.

  [42] Duric, A. and S. Andersen, "Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP)
       Payload Format for internet Low Bit Rate Codec (iLBC) Speech",
       RFC 3952, December 2004.

  [43] Herlein, G., et al., "RTP Payload Format for the Speex Codec",
       Work in Progress, October 2005.

  [44] TIA/EIA-810-A, "Transmission Requirements for Narrowband Voice
       over IP and Voice over PCM Digital Wireline Telephones", July
       2000.

  [45] TIA-EIA-IS-811, "Terminal Equipment - Performance and
       Interoperability Requirements for Voice-over-IP (VoIP) Feature
       Telephones", July 2000.

  [46] Alvestrand, H., "Tags for the Identification of Languages", BCP
       47, RFC 3066, January 2001.

  [47] Wing, D., "Symmetric RTP and RTCP Considered Helpful", Work in
       Progress, October 2004.

  [48] Rosenberg, J., Weinberger, J., Huitema, C., and R. Mahy, "STUN -
       Simple Traversal of User Datagram Protocol (UDP) Through Network
       Address Translators (NATs)", RFC 3489, March 2003.

  [49] Jennings, C., "NAT Classification Test Results", Work in
       Progress, July 2005.

  [50] Rosenberg, J., "Interactive Connectivity Establishment (ICE): A
       Methodology for Network Address Translator (NAT) Traversal for
       Offer/Answer Protocols", Work in Progress, July 2005.

  [51] Boulton, C. and J. Rosenberg, "Best Current Practices for NAT
       Traversal for SIP", Work in Progress, October 2005.

  [52] P. Eggert, "Sources for time zone and daylight saving time
       data." Available at http://www.twinsun.com/tz/tz-link.htm.

  [53] Campbell, B. and R. Sparks, "Control of Service Context using
       SIP Request-URI", RFC 3087, April 2001.

  [54] Mahy, R., "Connection Reuse in the Session Initiation Protocol
       (SIP)", Work in Progress, February 2006.




Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                     [Page 34]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


  [55] Jennings, C. and R. Mahy, "Managing Client Initiated Connections
       in the Session Initiation Protocol", Work in Progress, March
       2006.

  [56] Petrie, D., "A Framework for SIP User Agent Profile Delivery",
       Work in Progress, July 2005.

  [57] Jennings, C., "SIP Tutorial: SIP Security", presented at the VON
       Spring 2004 conference, March 29, 2004, Santa Clara, CA.

  [58] Jennings, C., Peterson, J., and M. Watson, "Private Extensions
       to the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) for Asserted Identity
       within Trusted Networks", RFC 3325, November 2002.

  [59] Chokhani, S., Ford, W., Sabett, R., Merrill, C., and S. Wu,
       "Internet X.509 Public Key Infrastructure Certificate Policy and
       Certification Practices Framework", RFC 3647, November 2003.

  [60] Jennings, C. and J. Peterson, "Certificate Management Service
       for The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)", Work in Progress,
       March 2006.

  [61] Ramsdell, B., "Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions
       (S/MIME) Version 3.1 Message Specification", RFC 3851, July
       2004.

  [62] Baugher, M., McGrew, D., Naslund, M., Carrara, E., and K.
       Norrman, "The Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (SRTP)", RFC
       3711, March 2004.

  [63] Audet, F. and C. Jennings, "NAT Behavioral Requirements for
       Unicast UDP", Work in Progress, September 2005.

  [64] Jennings, C., "Example call flows using SIP security
       mechanisms", Work in Progress, February 2006.

  [65] Peterson, J., "Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Authenticated
       Identity Body (AIB) Format", RFC 3893, September 2004.













Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                     [Page 35]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


Author's Addresses

  Henry Sinnreich
  Pulver.com
  115 Broadhollow Road
  Melville, NY 11747, USA

  EMail: [email protected]
  Phone: +1-631-961-8950


  Steven Lass
  Verizon
  1201 East Arapaho Road
  Richardson, TX 75081, USA

  EMail: [email protected]
  Phone: +1-972-728-2363


  Christian Stredicke
  snom technology AG
  Gradestrasse, 46
  D-12347 Berlin, Germany

  EMail: [email protected]
  Phone: +49(30)39833-0
























Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                     [Page 36]

RFC 4504           SIP Telephony Device Requirements            May 2006


Full Copyright Statement

  Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006).

  This document is subject to the rights, licenses and restrictions
  contained in BCP 78, and except as set forth therein, the authors
  retain all their rights.

  This document and the information contained herein are provided on an
  "AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE REPRESENTS
  OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET
  ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
  INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE
  INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED
  WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Intellectual Property

  The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
  Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed to
  pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in
  this document or the extent to which any license under such rights
  might or might not be available; nor does it represent that it has
  made any independent effort to identify any such rights.  Information
  on the procedures with respect to rights in RFC documents can be
  found in BCP 78 and BCP 79.

  Copies of IPR disclosures made to the IETF Secretariat and any
  assurances of licenses to be made available, or the result of an
  attempt made to obtain a general license or permission for the use of
  such proprietary rights by implementers or users of this
  specification can be obtained from the IETF on-line IPR repository at
  http://www.ietf.org/ipr.

  The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any
  copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary
  rights that may cover technology that may be required to implement
  this standard.  Please address the information to the IETF at
  [email protected].

Acknowledgement

  Funding for the RFC Editor function is provided by the IETF
  Administrative Support Activity (IASA).







Sinnreich, et al.            Informational                     [Page 37]