I have a question for all my readers. What is SIP used for? If you are like most people in the communications industry, you will tell me that SIP is used to make telephone calls. Some of you might also mention point-to-point or multiparty video, but in general, most people think of SIP as a way to make some sort of call — SIP for physical, soft, and mobile telephones and telephone-like devices.
While these are certainly valid uses of SIP, the notion of making calls only scratches the surface of what it can do. I often wonder how different our impressions would be if the inventors of SIP had chosen to pioneer a different use case. Would we still think of it as a replacement for TDM telephony if the first SIP-enabled devices had been electrocardiogram monitors?
My latest article for No Jitter explores some of the uses of SIP that have nothing to do with making a telephone call.
Tao, Zen, and Tomorrow 