Chapter 6. VoIP Signaling and Call Control Protocols

After reading this chapter, you should be able to perform the following tasks:

• Identify the appropriate call control model for your network.

• Describe how H.323 gateways and gatekeepers are used in VoIP networks.

• Configure, monitor, and troubleshoot H.323 gateways and gatekeepers.

• Configure, monitor, and troubleshoot SIP on a Cisco router.

• Configure, monitor, and troubleshoot MGCP on a Cisco router.

Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP) sessions provide voice communication over an IP network. These sessions are dynamically created and facilitated by one of several call control procedures. Typically, these procedures also embody mechanisms for signaling events during voice calls and for managing and collecting statistics about the voice calls. This chapter focuses on three protocols that offer call control support for VoIP:

• H.323

• Session initiation protocol (SIP)

• Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP)

First, you learn more about the benefits of signaling and call control.