H.323

Abstract

The H.323 standard provides a foundation for audio, video, and data communications across IP-based networks, including the Internet. By complying with H.323, multimedia products and applications from multiple vendors can interoperate, allowing users to communicate without concern for compatibility.

Description of H.323

H.323 will be the keystone for LAN-based products for consumer, business, entertainment, and professional applications.H.323 is an umbrella recommendation from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) that sets standards for multimedia communications over Local Area Networks (LANs) that do not provide a guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS).
These networks dominate today's corporate desktops and include packet-switched TCP/IP and IPX over Ethernet, Fast Ethernet and Token Ring network technologies. Therefore, the H.323 standards are important building blocks for a broad new range of collaborative, LAN-based applications for multimedia communications.The H.323 specification was approved in 1996 by the ITU's Study Group 16. Version 2 was approved in January 1998. The standard is broad in scope and includes both stand-alone devices and embedded personal computer technology as well as point-to-point and multipoint conferences.
H.323 also addresses call control, multimedia management, and bandwidth management as well as interfaces between LANs and other networks.H.323 is part of a larger series of communications standards that enable videoconferencing across a range of networks. Known as H.32X, this series includes H.320 and H.324, which address ISDN and PSTN communications, respectively