ORIGINAL Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION In the Matter of Implementation of Sections 255 and 25 1 (a)(2) of the Communications Act of of 1934, as Enacted by the Telecommunications Act of 1996; Access to Telecommunications Service, Telecommunications Equipment and Customer Premises Equipment by Persons with Disabilities Washington, D.C. 20554 WT Docket No. 96-l 98 COMMENTS OF THE VON COALITION Voice on the Net (VON) Coalition Bruce D. Jacobs Susan M. Hafeli Fisher Wayland Cooper Leader & Zaragoza LLP 2001 Pennsylvania Ave. N. W. Suite 400 Washington, D.C. 20006-l 85 1 January 13,200O _~ - ^.. .- ---^ ~--. Summary The Voice on the Net ("VON") Coalition urges the Commission to allow industry to continue to work towards voluntary solutions to the common goal of providing full access as new IP voice applications are developed. The VON Coalition is committed to IP voice applications being as accessible as readily achievable and to considering the user requirements of people with disabilities in the development of new products and services. The VON Coalition's commitment to this effort includes establishing a dialogue with consumers with disabilities and their advocates so that service providers and equipment vendors of Internet-based voice applications will better understand the needs of these consumers. In the last several years, industry has been working to develop Recommendations and standards to provide for the continued viability of text telephones ("TTYs") in IP-based networks. All relevant industry work has taken into consideration the requirements necessary to make TTYs compatible with these networks. IP voice applications, which are still developing, do not appear to have been the source of any problems for consumers with communications- related disabilities. i Table of Contents Summary .................................................................... I Section255andtheNOI ........................................................ . The VON Coalition's Commitment to a Dialogue with the Disability Community ........... 4 The Development of Industry Standards ........................................... .6 A. V. 18 and Related Recommendations .................................. .7 B. H.323Recommendation ............................................ . C. H.248 andMegaco ................................................ 10 D. Session Initiation Protocol .......................................... 11 E. PacketCable ................................................... ..ll VON Coalition Policy Recommendations .......................................... 12 Conclusion.. .............................................................. ..14 ii Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20554 In the Matter of Implementation of Sections 255 and 25 1 (a)(2) of the Communications Act of of 1934, as Enacted by the Telecommunications Act of 1996; Access to Telecommunications Service, Telecommunications Equipment and Customer Premises Equipment by Persons with Disabilities WT Docket No. 96-198 COMMENTS OF THE VON COALITION The Voice on the Net Coalition ("VON Coalition") hereby submits these comments in response to the Further Notice of Inquiry released September 29, 1999 in the above-captioned proceeding.L' The VON Coalition understands that using a variety of telecommunications devices and services is important to people with disabilities and that meeting this need is important to industry and to the public. The VON Coalition is committed to that effort, including maintaining a dialogue with consumers with disabilities and their advocates so that service providers and equipment vendors of Internet-based voice applications will better understand the needs of these consumers. The VON Coalition consists of 32 companies that are developing and offering voice products and services for use on the Internet and IP networks. Additional information regarding the VON Coalition is available on its website, http://www.von.org. The IP environment raises unique concerns for persons with communications-related disabilities who use assistive devices, including slow-speed text telephones ("TTYs") and TeleBrailleTM terminals, that were designed to function in the circuit-switched public switched telephone network ("PSTN")." Because these devices will continue to be widely-used, industry has been working both to understand potential problems that these devices raise in IP networks and to devise solutions thereto. The VON Coalition urges the Federal Communications Commission (the "FCC" or "Commission") to take no regulatory action at this time. The record shows that voluntary industry efforts are underway without government intervention. The Commission should be reluctant to take any action that would appear to introduce regulation, particularly as industry's progress to ensure disability access is ongoing. The vibrant growth of the Internet is attributable, in part, to the regulatory freedoms it enjoys. Section 255 and the FNOI. Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 ("Section 255") provides in pertinent part that manufacturers of telecommunications equipment and providers of telecommunications service must ensure that their products and services are accessible and usable by individuals with disabilities, if readily achievable. In its Report and Order adopting rules to enforce the statutory mandates, the Commission opted to extend Section These comments respond only to that portion of the NO1 pertaining to IP telephony services and focus primarily on TTYs and TeleBraille terminals, as these types of assistive devices are widely used by those with communications-related disabilities to communicate telephonically and have been the focus of discussions with disability advocates. Further discussions with disability advocates may identify other devices that also raise issues for IP-based networks. 2 255 requirements to two information services, voice mail and interactive menus.31 Given the ubiquity of these two services, particularly in today's business environments, the Commission concluded that the imposition of Section 255 requirements to voice mail and interactive menus was "critical to making telecommunications accessible and usable by people with disabilities."4/ Several commenters shared the position that Section 255 should also be applied to what they referred to as "Internet telephony." These commenters did not suggest that IP telephony services were causing problems for disabled consumers but, rather, expressed the desire for disability access to be incorporated into developing technologies and services. Section 25.5 Report and Order and FNOI at T[ 178. The Commission declined these requests, explaining that [ulnlike voicemail and interactive menus, other information services discussed by commenters do not have the potential to render telecommunications services themselves inaccessible. Therefore, we decline to exercise our ancillary jurisdiction over those additional services. Id. at 1 107. The Commission, however, adopted a Further Notice of Inquiry ("FNOI") to aid its understanding of the access issues presented by communications services and equipment not covered by the rules adopted in its Order, focusing in particular on Internet telephony and computer-based equipment. It seeks to develop a record with which to address whether IP telephony in general, and phone-to-phone IP telephony specifically, creates problems for the disability community and whether there is a need for Commission action. Id. at nT[ 179-l 80. The Implementation of Sections 255 and 251 (a)(2) of the Communications Act of I934, as Enacted by the Telecommunications Act of 1996; Access to Telecommunications Service, Telecommunications Equipment and Customer Premises Equipment by Persons with Disabilities, WT Docket No. 96-l 98, FCC 99- 18 1, Report and Order and Further Notice of Inquiry (rel. Sept. 29, 1999) (hereinafter "Section 2.55 Report and Order and ZWOI"). 4' Id. at 7 93; see also id. at 7 107 (stating that the Commission uses its "discretion to reach only those services we find essential to making telecommunications services accessible"). 3 FNOI also explores what type of action, if any, may be appropriate and permissible should the Commission conclude that action is warranted. Id. Commenters that identify ways in which phone-to-phone IP telephony services "may be interpreted as falling within the purview of Section 255" are also asked to provide specific definitions of the services or equipment to which the statute might apply and the appropriate means of limiting its application to only those services and equipment. Id. In addition to developing a record on specific services, the FNOI explores how to best achieve the goal of "ensur[ing] that the disability community is not denied access to innovative new technologies . . . that may become complements to, or even replacements for, today's telecommunications services and equipment." Id. at 1 173. While the Commission asks commenters to "tell us what we can do" to guarantee access, it is also "expressly interested in commenters' views on the extent to which government regulation will be necessary to ensure accessibility of communications technology in the future." Id. at 7 176. The VON Coalition's Commitment to a Dialogue with the Disability Community. In a July 1999 filing in this proceeding, the VON Coalition assured the Commission that it is committed voluntarily to making voice applications as accessible as readily achievable and to considering the user requirements of people with disabilities in the development of new products and services.2' The VON Coalition committed to developing a broader dialogue with consumers with disabilities so that service providers and equipment vendors will better understand the needs of these consumers. Letter from Bruce D. Jacobs, Counsel to the VON Coalition, to Magalie R. Salas, dated July 7, 1999. 4 Consistent with these representations, in December 1999, the VON Coalition organized a day-long forum at the FCC's headquarters building, in which members of the VON Coalition, representatives of various disability-rights organizations, and FCC staff met to share information and discuss disability access issues in the IP environment, including any specific problems encountered by consumers with disabilities. Participants for the disability community included representatives from the Alexander Graham Bell Association, American Foundation for the Blind, Consumer Action Network, Gallaudet University, Georgetown University's Institute for Public Representation, Self Help for Hard of Hearing People, and Telecommunications for the Deaf Incorporated. Industry was represented by Cisco Systems, Ericsson, Intel, Microsoft, Motorola, Net2Phone, Omnitor, Telogy Networks, and the VON Coalition. Over seven FCC staff members participated. Issues surrounding the use of legacy TTY devices in IP networks were addressed by Toby Nixon, Senior Program Manager, Windows Networking and Embedded Products Group, Microsoft Corporation and member of the VON Coalition Board of Directors. See Attachment A, Supporting Text Telephony Over IP Networks. Gunnar Hellstrom, a Rapporteur to ITU-T Study Group 16 addressing accessibility to multimedia systems and services, then discussed standards-setting work taken to date by the ITU-T. See Attachments B and C, Text Telephony and Total Conversation in the IP Revolution, presentation and paper, respectively. While concerned that legacy TTYs raise issues when used in IP networks, disability advocates present at the forum did not identify any specific problems that TTY users have experienced with IP voice applications. The discussion, however, did identify a number of items for industry research and follow-up, such as the need to determine the effect of compression on 5 sound quality and, consequently, the value of including persons who are deaf or hard-of-hearing in the testing of low bit-rate audio codecs. The forum was particularly instructive in alerting industry to the prevalence of TTY devices in the United States that use various proprietary signaling systems with a higher bit-rate than the 45.5 scheme. Because these systems are proprietary, it was agreed that manufacturers of such devices must be identified and encouraged to participate in industry efforts to establish standards. Similarly, it was agreed that manufacturers of text telephones with braille displays, like the manufacturers of proprietary TTYs, should be identified and encouraged to participate in standards-setting efforts. The Development of Industry Standards. In the last several years, industry has been working to develop Recommendations and standards to ensure the continued viability of TTYs in packet-switched networks, including IP-based networks. All relevant industry work has taken into consideration the requirements necessary to make TTYs compatible with these networks. This work reflects solutions based on state-of-the-art technology. As industry continues to develop advanced technologies and features, these Recommendations and standards can be expected to evolve as well. Described below is the standards work undertaken to date by the International Telecommunication Union - Telecommunication Standardization Study Group 16 ("ITU-T SG- 16"); the Internet Engineering Task Force ("IETF"); and Cable Television Laboratories, Inc., ("CableLabs"). Although these organizations are generating multiple protocol standards, the technical issues involved in supporting TTYs over IP networks, and the potential solutions, are 6 similar.&' Consequently, while we are able to provide the greatest detail with regard to the efforts of the ITU-T, other standards-setting organizations can be expected to be making similar progress. A. V.18 and Related Recommendations Almost two years ago, in February 1998, the ITU-T approved three Recommendations aimed at enhancing the capability of people with disabilities to use telecommunications in multimedia environments." The first Recommendation, V. 18, entitled Operational and Internetworking Requirements for DCEs Operating in the Text Telephone Mode, describes modem procedures for automatic inter-networking with the installed base of existing TTYs, relay services, and emergency centers. The Recommendation specifies the signal analysis, signal transmission, and logic needed to determine the type of text telephone, as well as the actions needed to communicate in the mode supported by each terminal type. The V. 18 standard is backward-compatible with all non-proprietary textphone methods.&' i The digital cellular industry is also addressing the issue of support for legacy TTYs. A solution devised by the digital cellular industry, in which the TTY characters are demodulated and remodulated into the codec itself, appears similar to the solution devised by the IP voice industry. These generally similar approaches suggest the feasibility of technical solutions to the issue of TTY support in advanced networks. The ITU calls its standards "Recommendations" because it is the responsibility of member countries to formally adopt standards. Nevertheless, an ITU Recommendation is, in practice, a standard. Five major text telephone systems operate globally. The 45.5 Baudot scheme is used in Canada, Iceland, Ireland, the United States and parts of the United Kingdom, with Australia and New Zealand using a higher bit-rate Baudot system. Dual tone multi frequency ("DTMF") is used primarily in Denmark and Holland. European Deaf Telephone ("EDT") is used primarily in Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland. Minitel is used primarily in Belgium and France. V.2 1 is used primarily in Finland, Norway, Sweden, and parts of the U.K. 7 ._ -- - --- -.---I - --.----- - ----.- The V. 18 Recommendation specifies that when the connection in V. 18 mode is established, the presentation protocol specified in Recommendation T. 140 should be used. T. 140 adds facilities to enable harmonized text conversation presentation and the use of different alphabets in a consistent way in text communications. A third Recommendation, T. 134, describes how these facilities can be integrated in the multimedia communications systems defined by the ITU-T. These three Recommendations, the ITU-T noted in its press release, will open up a new area of communications for disabled people and ensure that disabled people are not excluded from multimedia communication. . . . Disabled people will now be able to choose any combination of text, voice, graphics and video for their communications and make their calls over the normal telephone network, mobile phones or the Internet. V. 18 and T. 140 can be used immediately to improve text communication. The multimedia facilities will become increasingly useful as more multimedia devices come into use. ITU approves suite of technical standards to cater for communications needs of disabled people, ITU Press Release, ITU/98-5 (Feb. 9, 1998).y' B. H.323 Recommendation The ITU-T's H.323 Recommendation is designed to provide specifications for transmitting real-time voice, video, and data over packet-switched networks, including IP-based networks.`O' Though originally designed for multimedia conferencing over local area networks ("LAN?), the H.323 Recommendation was revised in January 1998 to address various issues, This document is available on the ITU's website, http://www.itu.int. H.323 is part of a family of ITU-T Recommendations called H.32x that provide multimedia communications services over a variety of networks. For example, H.320 provides an ISDN videoconferencing standard while H.324 is the ITU-T standard for multimedia conferencing over the PSTN. 8 including the emergence of voice-over-IP applications."' The ITU-T is currently drafting a third version, which may be approved as early as Spring 2000 ("Version 3"). H.323 is an umbrella standard that defines the call control, channel setup, and codecs (the devices used to translate voice signals from analog to digital and vice versa) required to move audio, video, and data over packet networks.`21 H.323 specifies four kinds of components which, when networked together, provide point-to-point and point-to-multipoint multimedia communications. These components are end-point terminals; gateways (which convert IP signals into some other form, thereby connecting two dissimilar networks); gatekeepers (which provide various services, including authorization and authentication and billing); and multipoint control units ("MCUs," which provide support for three or more H.323 terminals). The ITU-T SG- 16 is currently working on procedures to establish and carry text conversation sessions in real time over packet and IP networks in the H.323 multimedia environment. A proposed Annex G, pertaining to Text Conversation and Text Conversation Simple Endpoint Type Devices ("Text SET"), describes how a T. 140 text conversation can be carried over a data channel in an H.323 session. As proposed, a text transmission follows the same method as audio and video: a channel is established for each medium directly between the endpoints involved in a call; a transport protocol for T. 140 text suitable for H.323 and other packet environments is obtained by using the real time protocol RTP.3. As part of H.323 draft The standard can work as a voice-over-IP protocol by restricting the media to audio. H.323 contains multiple code standards, including H.261 (video codec for ~64 kbps); H.263 (video codec for < 64 kbps); G.711 (pulse code modulation audio codec for 56/64 kbps); G.722 (audio codec for 7 Khz at 48/56/64 kbps); G.723 (speech codec for 5.3 and 6.4 kbps); G.728 (speech codec for 16 kbps); and G.729 (speech codec for 8/13 kbps). H.323 also incorporates the T.120 data-conferencing standard. 9 Version 3, Annex G is on track for approval by Spring 2000. C. H.248 and Megaco Work is underway to separate, or "decompose," IP gateways into two components: a media gateway controller ("MGC"), which performs protocol conversion and resource allocation, and a "dumb" media gateway ("MG"), which takes the real-time media stream from a circuit- switched network and converts it into a stream of IP packets for transmission on the IP network (and vice-versa). Attempts to create protocols between MGCs and MGs began with Simple Gateway Control Protocol ("SGCP") from Telecordia (formerly Bellcore) and Cisco Systems, and with IP Device Control ("IPDC") from Ascend, Level 3, and Nortel. Given similarities in concept between SGCP and IPDC, the authors collaborated and produced Media Gateway Control Protocol ("MGCP"), which they subsequently introduced to both the ITU-T and the IETF. The ITU-T has named its draft international standard for "decomposed" gateways H.248, while the IETF has re-named MGCP "Megaco" to differentiate the standard from the input.`3' Nonetheless, the two entities are working jointly and envision that the ITU-T's core H.248 document will be published as an IETF document as well. Consistent with the Commission's goals, disability access is being incorporated as standards to govern the decomposed gateway are being developed. Specifically, work is progressing on an H.248 annex that will specify how audio text telephone (V.18 and all its legacy The H.323 and H.248 standards are envisioned as compatible. H.248 is used between components of a decomposed gateway (i.e., MGC to MG). H.323 is used between the conceptually "monolithic" gateway (the MGC in H.248 terms) and other H.323 end- points, including gatekeepers. 10 modes) can be conveyed using the T. 140-over-IP mechanism. D. Session Initiation Protocol In addition to its Megaco efforts, the IETF is working on a second multimedia protocol, Session Initiation Protocol ("SIP") to be used in IP telephony and IP multimedia communications. Like Megaco, SIP is intended to facilitate the decomposed communications environment. SIP is envisioned as an alternate to H.323 in IP networks, with gateways or multifunction protocols securing internetworking between the two. SIP specifies text transmission in real time transport protocol ("RTP") and registers it as a multipurpose Internet mail extension ("MIME") medium. SIP therefore is considered "text ready" and should require no further standardization efforts for text transmissions. E. PacketCable CableLabs, which is comprised of television system operators serving cable subscribers in North and South America, has established a project "PacketCable" to develop interoperable interface specifications for delivering real-time multimedia services over two-way cable plant. CableLabs has set the second half of 2000 as its goal for market deployment of PacketCable. The PacketCable 1 .O architecture has been designed to carry text conversations in PacketCable networks. In December 1999 CableLabs released 11 PacketCable 1 .O interim specifications that define the requirements for call signaling, quality-of-service, media stream, client provisioning, billing event message collection, PSTN interconnection and security interfaces applicable to residential voice services. Support for those who are deaf or hard-of- hearing is specifically addressed in Section 5 of the Audio/Video Codecs Specification, PKT-SP- 11 CODEC- 10 1-99 120 1 (Interim).`4/ According to this specification, Since CPE for the hearing impaired consists of text input/output devices coupled with voice-band modems, any system designed to support them would need to be able to pass DTMF and voice-band modem tones coherently. Of the list of proposed voice codecs, only G.711 would be able to achieve this . . . . Typically, these devices will interface to the PSTN via an acoustical coupler to a phone or with a regular RJ-11 telephone jack. MTA [mutimedia terminal] devices MUST support detection of ITU V. 18 hearing- impaired tones, including V. 18 Annexes A, B, F, and G. Upon detection of a V. 18 signal, the codec at each end is then switched to G.711 for the remainder of the session. Additionally, echo compensation is disabled for the duration of the V. 18 call. It is optional to disable echo cancellation for Annex B because it is DTMF-based. [The ITU-T's] G.711 MUST be supported in all MTAs. This codec provides toll-quality bitrate and is ubiquitous. It provides the "fallback" position for services such as fax, modem, and hearing-impaired services support, as well as common gateway transcoding support. Sections 5.1.5 and 5.2.1 at pages 12-13.E' VON Coalition Policy Recommendations. The VON Coalition urges the Commission not to impose any Section 255 regulation on IP voice applications, particularly at this time. A VON Coalition White Paper discusses our position that IP voice applications are an information service rather than a telecommunications service.`6' It would be premature for the FCC to consider imposing Section 255 regulation at this time. IP voice applications are still undergoing development, are not used by significant numbers An interim document, as defined by CableLabs, is one which has undergone "rigorous Member and vendor review, suitable for use by vendors to design in conformance to and for field testing." See Document Status Sheet, PacketCable Audio/Video Codecs Specification, PKT-SP-CODEC- 10 l-991 20 1, at page ii. The PacketCable interim specifications and related technical reports may be accessed at http://www.packetcable.com/packetcable-specs.html. Voice on the Net (VON) Coalition, "White Paper on IP Voice Services," Report to Congress on Universal Service, CC Docket No. 96-45 (March 18, 1998). The White Paper is incorporated herein by reference. 12 of consumers, and do not appear to have been the source of any problems for consumers with communications-related disabilities. The Commission should not reverse its tentative decision to confine its exercise of ancillary jurisdiction to voice mail and interactive menus. Section 255 Report and Order and FNOI at 1 107. While IP voice applications have garnered significant attention, they still represent only a small share of the voice communications market, are not nearly as pervasive as voice mail and interactive menus, and (in contrast to these services) have not been at all problematic for disabled consumers.lZ' Consequently, the threshold requirement to an exercise of ancillary jurisdiction - the finding of a "critical" or "essential" need to assert ancillary jurisdiction to make telecommunications accessible and usable by people with disabilities - is absent. There is always a cost to imposing regulation, or being viewed as regulated. The vibrant growth of the Internet and its applications is attributable, in part, to the regulatory freedom it enjoys.`8/ This agency should be reluctant to take any action that appears to introduce regulation of the Internet. As it has in the past, the Commission should be sensitive to the costs of regulation and be judicious in the use of its regulatory authority. Revenues generated from the provision of domestic telecommunications services totaled approximately $246 billion in 1998. Trends in Telephone Service, Industry Analysis Division, Common Carrier Bureau, Federal Communications Commission (Sept. 1999), Tables 19.1 and 19.2. Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, Report to Congress, 13 FCC Red 1150 1, 11546,ll CR 1312 (1998) ( reco g nizing that the absence of regulation has contributed to "the level of competition, innovation, investment and growth in the enhanced services industry over the past two decades."). See also 47 U.S.C. 9 230, expressing national Internet policy. 13 The Commission also should be sensitive to the burdens it imposes upon itself. Because Section 255(f) vests the Commission with exclusive jurisdiction to hear complaints, its task does not end with the application of Section 255 to a particular service or piece of equipment. To fairly and promptly resolve complaints, the Commission must be sufficiently informed of rapidly evolving technologies to evaluate the admittedly complex issues of whether accessibility is "readily achievable." Section 255 Report and Order and FNOI at 7 149. Conclusion Therefore, based on the foregoing, the VON Coalition urges the Commission not to impose Section 255 regulation on IP voice applications. Respectfully submitted, THE VON COALITION Bruce D. Jacobs Susan M. Hafeli Fisher Wayland Cooper Leader & Zaragoza LLP 2001 Pennsylvania Ave. N. W. Suite 400 Washington, D.C. 20006-l 85 1 Tel: (202) 659-3494 Date: January 13,200O 14 DECLARATION I, Toby L. Nixon, under penalty of pejury, do hereby declare as follows: I have reviewed the foregoing Comments of the VON Coalition. The facts contained therein are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief Toby L. $J$& MemberHON Coalition'Board of Directors Senior Program Manager Windows Networking and Embedded Products Group Microsoft Corporation One Microsoft Way Redmond WA 98052-6399 tnixon@microsofi.com +l (425) 936-2792 Date: 12 3&g 2cJm ATTACHMENT A SUPPORTING TEXT TELEPHONY OVER IP NETWORKS TOBY NIXON Member of Board of Directors, VON Coalition Senior Program Manager, Windows Networking and Embedded Products Group Microsoft Corporation Supporting Text Telephony Over IP Networks Toby Nixon Member of Board of Directors, VON Coalifion Senior Program Manager, Windows Networking and Embedded Products Group Microsoft Corporation tnixon@microsoiT. corn Circuit-Switched Telephony o Modern digital networks sample analog audio 8000 times per second at 4096 levels (12 bits), then compress to 8 bits per sample according to ITU-T Recommendation G.711 o 64,000 bits per second per channel o Many channels combined into single physical circuit, but each one gets 8000 8-bit samples per second o Produces "toll-quality" voiceband signal with 3.1 kHz bandwidth (roughly 300 to 3400 Hz) o Call signaling carried on separate data network (SS7) o Path of call established at call setup Toby Nixon, Microsoft Corporation 12/l 3/l 999 Circuit-Switched Telephony Toby Nixon, Microsoft Corporation 12/l 3/l 999 3 IP Networking o ? Many types of data and control protocols carried on a single network in "packets" o Both data and connection control Each packet is self-contained, including a source and destination "address" Packets sent from computer to computer until the destination is reached o Each stop along the way adds delay and "jitter" (delay variation) o Routing is determined by tables maintained in each computer Special types of computers called "routers" are dedicated to this purpose in the core of and between IP networks Toby Nixon, Microsoft Corporation 12/l 3/l 999 4 Telephony Call signaling protocols are used to establish connections between endpoints o Either directly or through intermediate servers Many audio samples are collected into packets o Reduces number of packets sent and protocol overhe o But adds delay at source G.711 encoding not normally used o Typical dial-up connections are less than 33,600 bit/s o 64,000 bit/s won't fit through that pipe! o Lower bit-rate codecs must be used bby Nixon, Microsoft Corporation 12/l 3/l 999 5 IP Telephony 1997: PC-PC IP Call Control IP Media o Original for hobbyists; like amateur radio (and not that good quality!) o Mostly non-standard protocols o No dependency on IP telephony network elements Toby Nixon, Microsoft Corporation 12/l 3/l 999 IP Telephony 1998: PC-Phone PSTN IP Call Control IP Media Allows PCs to connect to any telephone Simple extension of PC-PC case o Only minor changes to PC software Protocols terminated at the gateway Two-stage dialing in both directions o PC may need a phone number Toby Nixon, Microsoft Corporation 12/l 3/l 999 7 IP Telephony 1999: Phone-Phone \ r o A natural extension of the PC-Phone case o Gateways are generally outside the PSTN o Like ISP modem pools o Some tighter integration now required to avoid two-stage dialing o Gateway-gateway interoperability is critical o Today's IP telephony networks work this way Toby Nixon, Microsoft Corporation 12/l 3/l 999 - What do IP Telephony Gateways do? I I PSJN CalI Setup ~ !P Cal' Setup , Protocol Conversion I I PSTN Media ___-----________________________________------------. Ip Media bb Media Conversion - Call control protocols are translated between PSTN and IP forms Circuit-switched streams of digital information representing voice are converted to packets of data representing compressed voice Toby Nixon, Microsoft Corporation 12/l 3/l 999 9 Low Bit-rate Codecs o ITU-T G.723.1 and G.729A are most commonly used on IP networks o Early products used non-standard codecs o 5,300 bit/s (G.723.1) to 8,000 bit/s (G.729A) o Possible to carry over dial-up modem lines o Many more conversations can be carried on the same circuit o Model human vocal tract o Very poor at reproducing audio that can't be spoken by humans o Distort any dual-tone or modulated data signals Toby Nixon, Microsoft Corporation 12/I 311999 Other Impairments o Delay introduced at many points in the path o PC audio device drivers and operating system o Buffering in transmitter and receiver o Receiver buffering required to handle jitter (delay variation) o Coding and decoding delay o Routers a Packet loss caused by network congestion o Causes signals to break up o Can result in multiple tones (DTMF) or characters o Receiver can mask this effect to some extent o Can be ameliorated by QOS measures o Being deployed by some networks now Toby Nixon, Microsoft Corporation 12/l 3/l 999 7 1 Text Telephones o o o Small, portable, battery-powered LCD terminals Use various modulation schemes depending on country or region o All described in ITU-T Recommendation V.18 o FSK, V.21, V.23, Bell 103, DTMF o In North America, most TTs use 5bit Baudot character set similar to teletypes, on a 45.5baud FSK modulation which turns on and off for each key None are carried well by low-bitrate codecs due to human speech modeling Toby Nixon, Microsoft Corporation 12/l 3/l 999 12 Why not move to Internet Chat? o Standards already in place and widely used o Avoids long distance charges o All calls to local ISP o Point-to-point capabilities with instant messaging o Be informed when your friends come online o Multiparty chat capability o Friends with computers don't need TTs o Lots of other things you can do with a PC! o Isn't evevbody on the Internet anyway? Toby Nixon, Microsoft Corporation 12/l 3/l 999 Advantages of Text Telephones o Compact, lightweight, rugged o No hard disk or fragile parts o Very long battery life o Much less complex than computers o No setup, no blue screens, no reboots! o Easy to connect anywhere (acoustic or modular) o Don't need a rendezvous server (ILS, ICQ, etc.) o Just a point-to-point phone call o No modem training time; instant connections o Travels well - no local ISP access numbers to find Toby Nixon, Microsoft Corporation 12/l 3/l 999 14 Cost of Text Telephone Use o Much less expensive than PCs (~$200) o Many TTs provided free to users by charity or agency o ?? recurring ISP access charges o Local TT calls are "free" (just cost of phone line) o No credit card needed to set up an account o Existing relay services funded by TRS surcharge on i local phone bills I I o Funding model won't easily support wholesale upgrades Toby Nixon, Microsoft Corporation 12/l 3/l 999 Users of Text Telephones o Many TT users are not computer-literate o Disabilities can make training harder o Some hearing impaired users switch between voice and TT, particularly when using a relay service o Can't when using a modem that requires handshaking o ADA mandates TT access for governments and enterprises o Not easy to make changes to laws o Installed base is huge! o People don't like to change if they don't see substantial benefits Toby Nixon, Microsoft Corporation 12/I 3/l 999 16 .- X a> a E 0 0 3 0 s a s 8 co L 0 CL CL CD E Q .- s Potential Solutions o Use higher bit-rate codecs o G.711 is not economically feasible with current business models o Delay, jitter, and packet loss issues would remain o G.722.1 could provide "better than toll quality" and also support TTs o Take text telephone data "out of band" o Demodulate at originating gateway, remodulate at destination o Well-known technology o Already used for DTMF and fax on IP gateways o Also used for fax and data modem traffic on international circuits in the PSTN (DCMEIPCME) Toby Nixon, Microsoft Corporation 12/l 311999 18 How Can Gateways o a PSTN Call Setup b _____--_______---_______________________---------- .- PSTN Media Voice Conversion b I- TTY Conversion support Protocol Conversion TTs? Toby Nixon, Microsoft Corporation 12/l 3/l 999 IP Ca 4 b IP Media Gateway must detect TT signals and convert them to packetized data form instead of digitized audio o Uses even less bandwidth and is more efficient Call control protocols must also be enhanced to indicate the use of TTs II Setup 19 3 5 2 d 0 Q 0 a> u .- > u - ! I 5 3 2 d I 5 m S 0 a> cu u S II .- z 0 Q a Steady Progress o Standards to be adopted in February o Gunnar Hellstrijm will provide an update o Technology is being developed o Gunnar Hellstrijm will provide a demo, too! o Industry is committed to deployment o It's the right thing to do! o The benefits of next-generation networks will be available to all users Toby Nixon, Microsoft Corporation 12/l 3/l 999 21 Thank you! Questions? ATTACHMENT B TEXT TELEPHONY AND TOTAL CONVERSATION IN THE IP REVOLUTION GUNNAR HELLSTROM Omnitor Rapporteur in ITU-T SG16 Q9 Accessibility to Multimedia -.-. _ .__ ._.- ___l____l__^ ---- Accessibility opportunities in IP networks o IP networks take over telecomm traffic o Opportunity: - Combine text, video and voice - Interworking between many ways to access the network - Next generation mobile will have IP capabilities o Important points to consider - Interworking with Textphones in the Telephone Network is desired. - IP Transit for textphones requires special consideration - A simple IP textphone is needed Total Conversation standards o Text conversation need standards as well as video and audio. o Work is close to completion in ITU-T and IETF to define extension of video telephony to Total Conversation with video, text and voice o Subsets are possible for text telephony 3 Example of a Total Conversation Terminal Text in video call Text telephony Opportunities with Total Conversation o Deaf: sign, type or lip-read as the situation calls for. o Adult deaf: speak and see and get text back. o Hearing impaired - Hear and lip-read as far as possible, revert to text when needed. o Video relay services: Transfer phone number to call o Speech impaired: Hear and type. Or hear and speak and revert to typing when needed. o Anyone: Communicate in preferred mode, type when needed for names, phone numbers etc. 5 Opportunities with local additions to Total Conversation o Screen reader and Braille display makes text conversation accessible to deaf-blind users. o Voice recognition can make voice conversation convenient with adult deaf users. T. 140, the common base for text 0 Standardised in ITU-T 1998 0 Extremely simple end-to-end text chat protocol 0 User input to Unicode UTF-8 coded transmission 0 UTF-8 transmission to display 0 Safe and easy to include everywhere conversation What is the street address? Alameda 34 7 T.140 text protocol 0 0 User application lx40 Channel Network 0 0 Character by character transmission Character code for any language: IS0 10646 (= Unicode). Control from IS0 6429: - Erase last character, - New line, - Select graphic rendition - Alert in session Transport channel must be specified for each environment. Text Telephony, a subset of Total Conversation o IP Telephony builds on IP Multimedia technology. 0 IP Text Telephony builds on IP Total Conversation technology - ITU-T H.323 Annex G Text Conversation and Text SET. IP telephone extension with text - Draft-ietf-avt-rtp-text-02. txt transport for text in IP networks - Usable in IETF multimedia protocol SIP ? Text in IP networks Total Conversation terminal o H.323 Annex G = text in the dominating IP telephony protocol H.323 IP textphone o SIP text conversation also possible without further specification IP Network I Text telephony Total Conversation - a mowing familv Ready Ready Ready For decision Feb 2000 d For decision Feb 2000 Ready Ready PSTN PSTN DATA ISDN MOBILE MOBILE IP H.248 Annex I. Text - aware Gateway Draft V. 18 An automoding modem - a bridge to mono media text Can be used in gateways and servers Example of use V,ltMwminal USA, UK USA Holland Germany France Anywhere Sweden, UK 12 Text telephone interworking o T. 140 is also used in standardised text telephony. o V. 18 enables communication with a huge number of existing text telephones ~ T.140 ready pi T. 140 equalizers ~ ~ transmission `~ ,, for legacy modes ~ in V.18 mode ~ I V. 18 text telephone modem PSTN Interworking o Gateways need to have V.18 capabilities, to connect PSTN text telephone calls with Total Conversation or IP Text Telephone terminals o Gateways need to be T. 140 aware , V.18 compa- I T.140 text in , IP channel 7 tible text V.18 /T.140 T*140 PSTN alternating Textphone with voice Gateway -1 H.323 RTP/Audio 1 Annex G I I I Gateway example V. 18 - H.323 14 Textphone gateway call between Telephone network and IP network IP Gateway T.140 RTP port V.18 port Telephone network 15 Text- phone Textphone call in telephone network passing through IP network T.140 V.18 RTP POti P0t-t Figure: IP transit network in textphone call IP tra nsit network RF-Text u IP Gateway IT.140 1 Textp ho ne 16 IP gateway standardisation ITU-T H.248 and IETF Megaco o Current hot topic - huge efforts. o Text telephone and text conversation additions well timed o Need for integration of text - fax - modem additions o Ideal view - same port for voice, text, fax and modem, automatic identification of mode and invocation of proper packetization. o Gallaudet University put in efforts now on text integration - important period to Feb. 2000. 17 Mobile interworking o Another hot topic is Mobile networks o Total conversation also covers mobiles o Interworking with text telephones can be made through the H.248 gateway additions for text o Important to treat both mobile and IP interworking in parallel1 18 Conclusions o Video telephony is complemented with text to form Total Conversation o Text Telephony is linked in through a standardised bridge -V.18 o Work is centered in ITU-T SG 16 with Q9-Accessibility as initiator o Many companies and organisation have contributed o Standards are nearly in place, implementations can begin Standards support for Total Conversation and text telephony Text conversation A * EM&S `l'ext, video and [ voice (PSTN) ] .Descriptic . H.323 Annex G video I/ H.248 dl and voice ISDN- H.320 H.324 voice (IP) H.323 Annex G Demonstration o Standardised IP text telephony implemented in standardisation work for Ericsson o T. 140 and RTP-Text transmission demo application o Attached to Microsoft Netmeeting H.323 IP telephony base system o Limitations: Not full implementation of H.323 Annex G. o Intention - demonstrate usability of the standards 21 ATTACHMENT C TEXT TELEPHONY AND TOTAL CONVERSATION IN THE IP REVOLUTION GUNNAR HELLSTROM Omnitor Rapporteur in ITU-T SGl6 Q9 Accessibility to Multimedia I - ___,_ ..x._.__ ..-. .-_....._--_.._. -----^- ..-- Total Conversation and Text Telephony in the IP revolution. Presentation to the VON coalition meeting with Accessibility Actors and the FCC. Monday, December 13, 1999, Washington DC BY Gunnar Hellstriim, Omnitor. Accessible Information Technology consultant. Rapporteur in ITU-T Q9/16 Accessibility to Multimedia Systems and Services. E-mail: gunnar. hell.vtrom~omnitor.se , Phone:46 708 204 288 Alsniigatan 7, 4 tr, SE-l 16 41 Stockholm Sweden Web: www.omnitor.se Summary Telecom services are rapidly going through an IP revolution. More and more services get IP based by adopting Internet Protocols or being provided in the Internet. This change imposes opportunities and risks for the users. This document clarifies how recently developed telecom standards can contribute to better accessibility to conversational telecom services including Text Telephony. By introducing standards for text conversation, text can be combined with video and voice. Important opportunities are opened. The combination is called Total Conversation. The document explains the situation in standardisation of text conversation functions. Most components are ready or near to be approved in international standardisation, while the important gateway work, needed to bridge between different networks is still in the middle of intensive work. Of special importance is the provision of methods for interworking with text telephony in the telephone network. Many companies and organisations contribute to the standardisation of accessible telecommunications, co-ordinated from the working group ITU-T Q9/16 "Accessibility to Multimedia". IP Telephony offers accessibility improvements The growth of IP Telephony offers an opportunity to implement more accessible telecommunication services while preserving compatibility with the old. If any new technology is to be accepted by the users of text conversation, it should enable contacts with the current users of text telephony. For a great number of people with hearing impairment, deafness, deaf-blindness and speech impairments, the current TTY and other text Page 2 telephones are important tools for distant personal conversations. Communication with newer systems could be established preserving interworking with the old. Interworking is always arranged between voice telephones in different networks. The ambition behind the standardisation activities for text conversation is to make that possible also for text. When defining standards for IP Text Conversation, it is important to base the work on the most dominating standards for IP Telephony and IP Multimedia, so that products of general interest with accessibility features can be designed. In IP based networks, it is easy to establish simultaneous communication in text, video and voice in any combination. That can open conversational services for a large number of users who do not find today's TTY:s to be a suitable alternative for communication and therefore do not benefit from telecomm services today. The first step - standardisation of Total Conversation Text Telephony can be seen as a limited special case of multimedia conversation. There are recommendations developed now, defining the concept of Total Conversation as an extension of Video Telephony, including video, text and voice. It is possible to select only one or two of these media in an implementation. An example can be an IP Text Telephone only implementing text and voice, allowing truly simultaneous text and voice operation. It is important to have standardised solutions for Total Conversation in all networks, including IP networks as well as Mobile networks, ISDN and the telephone network. The combination of video, text and voice, offers a great increase in usability in personal conversation, because the users can use a combination of modes that suit the situation for the moment. One example could be a hearing impaired person who can perceive a conversation quite well with the combination of voice and good video for lip-reading but occasionally need to revert to getting something typed in the text part of the conversation. Another example may be in video relay services. Interpreters working in video relays with plain videophones say that the text addition would be essential for the efficiency of the service for conveying the telephone number from the user. That task is tedious without the text capability. Total Conversation can be extended by local adaptations. It can be deaf-blind people needing text output through a screen reader, it can be adult deaf people who may be eager to use automatic voice-to-text translation to make communication convenient. Page 3 I What is Johan's number? r rgure : fixample 0J a 1 otal Conversation termmal Jar wdeo, text and voice. Standardise in powerful organisations The work with standardisation of Total Conversation is handled both in ITU-T and IETF. ITU-T is the International Telecommunications Union. It has settled most standards for video telephony, voice telephony, fax, modem and text telephony that are in common use now. IETF is the Internet Engineering Task Force, and it manages standards to be used in IP networks. These two organisations dominate international standardisation in telecommunications and the Internet. Since they created the dominating basic standards environments where text conversation is needed, they form the natural place for the additions creating Total Conversation. International standards act as catalysers on implementations. It attracts efforts from industry and usage from customers, thus accelerating the benefit for all involved parties. It is a good habit of the industry to unite in creating standards for communication methods and compete in creating the smartest implementations of the standards. T.140, the standardised text addition to multimedia systems When text is transmitted in the Total Conversation environment, it is coded as text in the internationally dominating Unicode code, with a robust transformation called UTF-8. This is the prevailing code for most new text oriented services. The application of this code in text conversation is specified in Recommendation ITU-T T. 140. It specifies that text shall be transmitted character by character or in small chunks, to give the best conversational flow, just like today's text telephones. Page 4 Each network environment have its own data transport mechanisms, and it must therefore be specified how T. 140 codes are to be transmitted in each environment. Text telephony H.324 PSTN H.320 ISDN H.323 IP H.324 Mobile H.323 Mobile T.120 Data Multimedia Multimedia Multimedia Multimedia IP Multimedia conferencing Figure: The Total Conversation standard family (note, not all approved yet) IP Text Telephony in line with IP Telephony The recommendations for Total Conversation in IP networks are based on the same protocols as the IP Telephony protocols. IP Total Conversation is a superset of IP Telephony. Therefore, in this era of growing support for IP Telephony, Total Conversation offers the opportunity to create accessibility in a universal way. Addition to H.323 multimedia communication in ITU The currently prevailing standard for IP telephony and IP Multimedia is ITU-T H.323. In order to expand H.323 to also include text conversation and a simple text telephone is specified as "H.323 Annex G Text Conversation and Text SET". The strategy is to let text transmission follow the same method as audio and video. A channel is established for each medium directly between the endpoints involved in a call. By this strategy, the from video phone to "total phone" and from IP telephone to IP textphone will be smooth. Inclusion in gateways and services will not be hindered by any major technical obstacles. Transmission method standardised in IETF In order to establish the IP text conversation standard, a transmission protocol was needed for T. 140 in the IP environment. Both Audio and video make use of a protocol from IETF called RTP. A specific RTP payload description was specified for T. 140 data including optional use of a redundancy mechanism in order to decrease risk of loss of text. Data loss is always a risk in IP networks, and different mechanisms are applied to keep the risk low. The RTP payload specification for text is in the process of being approved. It has been implemented and proven to function well. An application is also issued for registration of this T. 140 text transport as a MIME registered medium. That makes it possible to use T. 140 in other IP applications and protocols. Page 5 Next multimedia protocol "SIP" in IP networks is "text ready" A second Multimedia protocol to be used in IP telephony and IP Multimedia communication is the IETF Session Initiation Protocol, SIP. It is not yet as well established as H.323, but used in some implementations. By specifying a text transmission for text in RTP, and registering it as a MIME medium, it will be ready for inclusion in SIP implementations without further standardisation. Thereby SIP is "text ready". SIP and H.323 are expected to live side by side in the IP networks, with gateways or multifunction protocols securing interworking between them. Gateway needs Text Telephone H,320 Figure: Example of use of a Gateway. For the described evolution to take place, compatibility need to be established with corresponding services in IP networks, in the telephone network and mobile networks. The main services to take into consideration are text telephony and voice telephony. While the main current emphasis is on voice telephony, there are movements to also specify interworking between text telephony (TTY) in telephone networks and IP Text Telephony. Compatibility is arranged by describing Text Conversation and Text Telephony additions to the standards for IP gateways. This work is just now taking place in the ITU and IETF. The accessibility additions are made in phase with other definitions of gateway functions. The work is done under the name of H.248 Annex I in ITU-T Study Group 16 and in the Megaco working group in the IETF. The user requirements were specified in IETF. The text telephone compatibiltity requirements specify different ambition levels for the support: Gateway requirements The following text is directly fetched from IETF Megaco requirements. "11.2.4. Trunking/Access Gateway with text telephone access ports An access gateway with ports capable of text telephone communication, must provide communication between text telephones in the SCN and text conversation channels in the packet network. Page 6 Text telephone capability of ports is assumed to be possible to combine with other options for calls as described in section 11.2.6 (e.) on "Adaptable NASes". The port is assumed to adjust for the differences in the supported text telephone protocols, so that the text media stream can be communicated T.140 coded in the packet network without further transcoding [7]. The protocol must be capable of reporting the type of text telephone that is connected to the SCN port. The foreseen types are the same as the ones supported by ITU-T V.18: DTMF, EDT, Baudot-45, Baudot-50, Bell, V.21, Minitel and V.18. It should be possible to control which protocols are supported. The SCN port is assumed to contain ITU-T V.18 functionality [8]. The protocol must be able to control the following functionality levels of text telephone support: a. Simple text-only support: The call is set into text mode from the beginning of the call, in order to conduct a text-only conversa- tion. b. Alternating text-voice support: The call may begin in voice mode or text mode and, at any moment during the call, change mode on request by the SCN user. On the packet side, the two media streams for voice and text must be opened, and it must be possible to con- trol the feeding of each stream by the protocol. C. Simultaneous text and voice support: The call is performed in a mode when simultaneous text and voice streams are supported. The call may start in voice mode and during the call change state to a text-and-voice call. A port may implement only level a, or any level combination of a, b and c, always including level a. The protocol must support: d. A text based alternative to the interactive voice response, or audio resource functionality of the gateway when the port is used in text telephone mode. e. Selection of what national translation table to be used between the Unicode based T.140 and the 5-7 bit based text telephone protocols. f. Control of the V.18 probe message to be used on incoming calls." The international text telephone standard V.18 - a prerequisite for a gateway specification. The gateways need to support conversion between the tone coded text telephone methods used in the telephone network and the T. 140 data coding of text used in the IP network. How that can be done is described in the gateway work in the standards groups. Page 7 An important prerequisite for that work was to have the international text telephone standard V. 18 to refer to in the work. It is now possible to name text telephone support with one term "V. 18" in overviews, and leave the details for the technical specifications. ITU-T V. 18 is backwards compatible with all textphone methods. It can be used in gateways and form a bridge to the digital world. Figure: A K 18 equipped text phone or gateway can communicate with all types of textphones. A need to integrate with fax and modem gateway specifications Also fax, modem and voice traffic have the same need as text phone traffic to go through IP networks or end in IP networks. For proper handling of these four uses of the telephone network, an integrated specification must be created. Work has started, and the main part of that work should be ready in February 2000, in the form of a joint draft Annex to the H.248 gateway protocol specification. Without text gateways - no guarantee of text transmission. If the text telephone gateways are not implemented, there is no guarantee that TTY tones will be carried well as audio coded information by the gateways. That is one additional reason why the Total Conversation concept is preferable to apply, with gateways identifying TTY connections and converting between TTY tones and Text Conversation data codes. The gateways will be used in two ways, as gateways between different networks, and to create a transit path through IP networks for telephone network users. If the ports to the telephone network were provided with V. 18 capabilities to be able to detect and decode text telephone traffic, and T. 140 was used as the common text protocol on the IP side transported on RTP or TCP, text telephone calls could flow both between telephone network users and between the network types. Page 8 IP Gateway T.140 RTP port V.18 port Telephone network Figure: Gateway connecting IP Textphone with telephone networktextphone IP Gateway IT.140 1 V.18 - RTP POti POti IP transit network Figure: IP transit network in textphone call Mobile networks IP networks are not the only new network to consider. The next generation mobile networks are just emerging. They can support multimedia conversation. The Total Conversation standards are made so, that they can be applied also in these mobile networks. The work with gateways are valid also for entry to mobile networks, and by applying the same architecture with T. 140 as the common protocol, interworking can be achieved. Page 9 Industry efforts The industry now makes efforts to finalize the Total Conversation concept and the standardise the gateway between text telephony (TTY) and IP Total Conversation. It should be remembered that standardisation and implementation in operational services are separate processes. Approved Recommendations for Total Conversation support in IP networks are important prerequisites for smoothly inter-working services. Many companies and organisations are contributing to the standardisation process. Gunnar Hellstrom from Omnitor, Sweden has co-ordinated it from 1997-2000 as Rapporteur for ITU-T Q9/16 Accessibility to Multimedia Systems and Services, first on behalf of the Swedish Post and Telecom Agency and later on behalf of LM Ericsson. Conclusion The emerging Total Conversation concept adds text conversation to all major multimedia conversation standards. The addition is made in a way that is intended for smooth implementation. One common presentation level, ITU-T T. 140 is used, based on the internationally useful Unicode standard. Any combination of text, video and voice can be implemented and terminals implementing different subsets can communicate in common modes. It is therefore possible to create IP text telephones. Interworking with the current text telephones can be accomplished through standardised gateways that also can be involved for cases when the IP network is just used as a transit network. Suitable standards and standard proposals exist. Total Conversation can be implemented to serve the text telephone users in new networks. Standardisation summary. This is a list of standards and drafts related to Total Conversation and Text Telephony. 1. ITU-T V. 18, approved 1994, amended 1998. Text telephone modem Recommendation, with automoding to Baudot, DTMF, EDT, V.21, Bell, Minitel and V.18, also used in the gateway work as a bridge to IP text conversation. Requires use of T. 140 between V. 18 terminals. 2. ITU-T T. 140, approved 1998, amended 1999. Common text conversation presentation level, based on Unicode UTF-8. Makes it simple to establish character by character text conversation with interworking in a new environment. 3. ITU-T T. 134, approved 1998. Transport of T. 140 in T. 120 data conferencing environment. 4. ITU-T modification to H.324 to include transport of T.140 in circuit switched multimedia calls. Decided 1998. Can be used for Mobile Text Conversation. Page 10 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10 `. IETF Megaco packages. The text packages for H.248 gateway combined with other packages in a common package draft specification in IETF. Should be developed in parallel with H.248 Annex I. 11. ITU-T F.MVCS Service description: Multimedia Conversation Services. Draft, including text telephony and Total Conversation. 12. Modifications and additions for Total Conversation and text telephony are made to: H.245: Multimedia control for management of T. 140 channels, V.8: Modem Handshake for defining V. 18 text telephone call function, V.8 bis Modem handshake to select modulation and simultaneous text and voice for text telephony and telephone network multimedia, V.250 DCE control language to control a V. 18 modem, Q.93 1 Connection procedures to define selection of a V. 18 modem, T. 120 data conferencing to add the Text Conversation application T. 134 to the T. 120 family. 13. ITU-T H-series supplement 1: Application profile for sign language and lip reading use of low bitrate video comunication.( in preparation for publication). Full Total Conversation should also explore the potential of communicating in video with sufficient quality for sign language and lip reading. This document give some guidance. ITU-T H.224, revision, for decision in feb. 2000. Transport of T. 140 in ISDN H.320 Multimedia is enabled by allocating Client Id=2. ITU-T H.323 Annex G, Text conversation and text SET, for decision in Feb. 2000. Transport of T. 140 in IP telephony and IP Multimedia conversation. IETF RTP-payload for text conversation. Last call 1999- 12-08. Intended to be RFC before end of 1999. Transport mechanism for T. 140 to be used in H.323 and SIP. IETF Megaco requirements 09. IP gateway requirements including text telephone gateway requirements. Last call 1999-12-10. Planned to be RFC before end of 1999. H.248 Annex I. Text conversation and Text telephony packages. Additions to the gateway protocol specification H.248 for text telephony and text conversation. Draft, to be integrated with fax and modem specifications before Feb- 2000. Page 11 Mail list and links Text telephony and Total Conversation with special focus on standardisation aspects is dicussed in the mail list textphone@,lsv.pi.se Membership is achieved by mailing an e-mail to listserv@lsv.pi.se with no subject and one line message saying Subscribe textphone /your name/ (Replace /your name/ with your name.) The ITU Work can be followed through www.itu.int Standards SG16. The IETF work can be followed through www.ietf.org working groups "avt" and "megaco".