Identification of Communications Services in the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)

This document considers the problem of service identification in the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). Service identification is the process of determining the user-level use case that is driving the signaling being utilized by the user agent (UA). This document discusses the uses of service identification, and outlines several architectural principles behind the process. It identifies perils when service identification is not done properly -- including fraud, interoperability failures, and stifling of innovation. It then outlines a set of recommended practices for service identification. This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is published for informational purposes.