Convergence of communications

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Revision as of 13:23, 29 July 2008 by imported>Howard C. Berkowitz (Put DRM under data, although it may be a heading of its own)
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Convergence of communications, in varying and unfortunately not yet standard phrasings, is the goal of having all types of human-to-computer and computer-to-computer communications converge onto (i.e., all run over) a common infrastructure using Internet Protocol version 4 or Internet Protocol version 6.

It is neither necessary, nor desirable from a security standpoint, that they all run over the public Internet. All of these services can be restricted to other than the Internet, such as intranets or extranets.

This definition of convergence does not attempt to standardize the applications themselves. Instead, it includes the technologies that enable application-specific communications to be transmitted over standard interfaces to information delivery systems using Internet Protocol, Session Initiation Protocol, and similar protocols and interfaces.[1]

  • Universal emergency telephone number system [r]: A single, short telephone number, such as 911 or 112, which will connect the caller to a dispatcher capable of determining the need for ambulance, police, fire or other emergency services, and arranging for the service(s) to get to the location where the problem exists [e][2]
  • Telemedicine [r]: The use of electronic communications to enable providers to diagnose, provide information, and deliver health services when they are not available for on-site service delivery [e]

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