Folks,

We have debated the introduction of a method of sending IMs within H.323 for years.  It’s unfortunate, especially considering how the H.323 infrastructure so easily lends itself to such functionality.  There was a renewed hope with some documents introduced during the Shenzhen meeting that suggested a means of sending IM within the context of a call, as well as outside the context of a call.

One of the other matters we were asked to consider within the context of H.323 and H.248 is the transmission of emergency messages using a format called the “Common Alerting Protocol”.  During the Shenzhen meeting, we sent a liaison to SG17 urging them to consider the creation of an ASN.1 specification that would more readily transport within H.323 networks.  I can report that, not only did they do that, it has been put forward for consent already.  The standard will be X.1303.

So, the next step is to define procedures for transporting X.1303 (CAP) messages within H.323.  Initially, I considered creating an H.460.x extension, but then I thought that a better solution might be to use something like H.450.7 (Message Waiting Indicator).  But, as I thought about this, perhaps the best way is to marry this with the Instant Messaging proposals we’ve seen before.

If we were to standardize the ability to send instant messages within H.323, both within and outside the context of a call, then it would be possible to send X.1303 messages as an “instant message”.  This does introduce a new requirement, though, in that we ought to “tag” the type of message so that it is properly treated.  Instant Messages might appear unprocessed on the user’s screen, whereas X.1303 messages must be decoded and formatted for human readability.

So, I would like to draft a proposal for this upcoming SG16 meeting to do precisely what I said: let’s move forward on the work of sending IM messages within H.323, adding a tag that indicates the type of message.  We can also utilize the call priority procedures in H.460.4 in order to ensure that an emergency CAP message gets higher priority through the network.

Does this sound reasonable and acceptable?  Do others have other proposals?

If it is acceptable, then I have a question of procedure.  The proposals for instant messaging were not accepted as new work items for Q2, though they were not rejected: the request was for further progress.  Unfortunately, the contributor is not a member of the ITU, which leaves us in a difficult situation.  As a possible means forward somebody might volunteer to submit these documents as formal contributions to this SG16 meeting under their company’s name.  Is that agreeable and are there any volunteers?

Do you have another idea for how we can support X.1303 (CAP)?

Thanks,

Paul