SIP-based VoIP platforms are being deployed among universities in Taiwan. With the support of National Telecommunications Development Program, five universities (National Taiwan University, National Tsing Hua University, National Chiao Tung University, National Cheng Kung University, National Dong Hwa University) are initiating a middle scale SIP-based VoIP pilot trial between these campuses. In each campus, SIP proxy servers and PSTN gateways are deployed, so that SIP phone users can reach other SIP phone users within these campuses. Moreover, through the campus PBX (or CENTREX trunk), SIP phone users can also reach PBX or PSTN phones. SIP-based instant messaging and voicemail services are deployed, too. With approximately 10,000 students in each university, we expect the experience of this trial can collect pertinent information to facilitate better SIP services creation and deployment in universities.
In accompany with Taiwan ENUM Trial Project, 100,000 E.164 numbers are allocated for this trial. With the softswitch that interconnects PSTN network and VoIP network, any SIP phone can be reached via E.164 numbers (in the form of +886-944-300301) from any PSTN phone or mobile phone, in addition to their SIP URI (in the form of sip:solomon@nctu.edu.tw). With the E.164 numbers introduced by ENUM trial, SIP phone users experience similar dialing convention as they are making or receiving PSTN calls.
As a working group in Taiwan Research Network 2 (TANet2), we would like to look for international partners to further broaden the scale of this trial, and cooperate with international peers to study the design and architecture of SIP-based VoIP services.