Total Conversation through ITU-T Standards: Sign, Type, and Speak – You Decide

1. Total Conversation through ITU-T Standards:Sign, Type, and Speak – You Decide Paul E. Jones Cisco Systems, Inc.

2. In the beginning, communication devices for the deaf opened a whole new world for the users of those devices. They enabled people to communicate in ways that were never possible before. Friends and family were able to carry on conversations over long distances, helping to maintain and even strengthen those relationships. Without question, the introduction of the telecommunication devices for the deaf enriched everyone's lives. But times change…

3. And so do the modes of communication! 15th Biennial TDI International Conference – Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

4. It’s All AboutTotal Conversation • The ITU-T is working on standards that bring about the convergence of • Voice telephony • Video telephony • Text telephony • These standards aim to enable what it calls “Total Conversation” 15th Biennial TDI International Conference – Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

5. Defining the Multimedia Service • The ITU-T defined a series of service specifications and included text and video as components of the multimedia services (F.700 and F.703) 15th Biennial TDI International Conference – Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

6. Popular Multimedia Systems • H.323 – Multimedia communication over packet-switched networks (Internet) • SIP – Session Initiation Protocol (Internet) (IETF) • H.320 - Multimedia communication over ISDN • H.324 – Multimedia communication over low bit-rate links (phone lines and mobile phones) 15th Biennial TDI International Conference – Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

7. Problems with These Systems Identified • Multimedia systems had largely focused only on voice and video • There was a lack of support for text (or at least acceptable text) • Video support often did not take into consideration the needs of the deaf 15th Biennial TDI International Conference – Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

8. More Standards • H Series Supplement 1 – Raised awareness about sign language and lip reading as it relates to video quality • T.140 – Standard to allow Unicode for textual conversation • IETF RFC 2793 defines the transport of T.140 over IP networks • Used by both H.323 and SIP systems 15th Biennial TDI International Conference – Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

9. Integration • During the 1997 – 2000 timeframe, the ITU-T worked to add support for real-time text communication to the popular multimedia systems • Acceptable video support was more of an educational exercise… and the ITU-T has made an effort to educate! 15th Biennial TDI International Conference – Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

10. …But Still Segregated • The video conferencing systems in use today are: • Largely used between two parties who have the same equipment • Not “tied into” the larger public communications networks • Further integration is required 15th Biennial TDI International Conference – Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

11. The VoIP Revolution • Since the late 1990s, the communications industry has been heavily focused on “voice over IP” or “VoIP” • The basic idea is to simply use the Internet Protocol (IP) to carry voice, video, and data communications (sounds simple enough, huh?) 15th Biennial TDI International Conference – Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

12. The VoIP Revolution (cont) • VoIP is still in its infancy, as compared to the mature public switched telephone network (PSTN) • Even so, a large number of telephone calls are carried over IP networks today • Unfortunately, multimedia communication services (the video and textual components) have been slower to “take off” 15th Biennial TDI International Conference – Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

13. GK GK GK GK GK MGC MGC GK GK Bridging Two PSTN Networks over an IP Network “Directory” Gatekeepers Service Provider IP Core Network H.323 PSTN Gateways H.248 PSTN Gateways “Text over IP” – V.toip Scheduled for approval in January 2004 15th Biennial TDI International Conference – Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

14. ToIP Objectives • Allow for character-by-character text communication • Allow for simultaneous two-way conversation, along with voice and video (inherent limitations of the PSTN an obstacle) • Standardize on an international character set (Unicode) • Support all standard TTY device types defined in ITU-T V.18 • Enable different device types to communicate through each other by using the gateways as “interworking” devices (see next slide) 15th Biennial TDI International Conference – Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

15. Interworking TTY Types through the use of T.140 IP Network Baudot Device V.21 Device T.140 bridges the gap 15th Biennial TDI International Conference – Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

16. GK GK GK GK GK GK GK GK MGC MGC GK Building Bridges to the Enterprise and Residence H.248 PSTN Gateways “Directory” Gatekeepers Residence Service Provider IP Core Network Enterprise H.323 PSTN Gateways Audio and Video Terminals and TTYs 15th Biennial TDI International Conference – Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

17. Ultimate Goals • To allow any device to support the transmission of video and/or text signals • To allow a user on a PC connected to an IP network to chat with a user on a legacy PSTN TTY device • To improve communications with the widespread adoption of video • To allow a user with a wireless PDA to communicate with anybody in the world • To not require special tools for communications 15th Biennial TDI International Conference – Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

18. ITU-T Standards… Enable Video, Text, and Voice Communications. So you can Sign, Type, or Speak. You Decide! 15th Biennial TDI International Conference – Las Vegas, Nevada, USA