Network Working Group                                         G. Vaudreuil
Request for Comments: 2423                             Lucent Technologies
Obsoletes: 1911                                                 G. Parsons
Category: Standards Track                               Northern Telecom
                                                            September 1998


                           VPIM Voice Message
                       MIME Sub-type Registration

 Status of this Memo

   This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
   Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
   Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
   and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

 Copyright Notice

   Copyright © The Internet Society (1998).  All Rights Reserved.

Overview

   This document describes the registration of the MIME sub-type
   multipart/voice-message for use with the Voice Profile for Internet
   Mail (VPIM).  A full description of usage can be found in the VPIM v2
   specification.

1.  Abstract

   This document describes the registration of the MIME sub-type
   multipart/voice-message for use with the Voice Profile for Internet
   Mail (VPIM).  A full description of usage can be found in the VPIM v2
   specification [VPIM2].  This document revises an earlier sub-type
   registration in RFC 1911 [VPIM1].

2. VPIM Scope

   The VPIM specification defines a restricted profile of the Internet
   multimedia messaging protocols for use between voice processing
   platforms.  These platforms have historically been special-purpose
   computers and often do not have the same facilities normally
   associated with a traditional Internet Email-capable computer.  As a
   result, VPIM also specifies additional functionality as it is needed.
   The profile is intended to specify the minimum common set of features
   to allow interworking between compliant systems.




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   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED",  "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in [REQ].

3. Voice Message Interchange

3.1 multipart/voice-message

   The MIME sub-type multipart/voice-message is defined to hold specific
   media contents that are interchanged in messages between voice
   messaging systems described in [VPIM2].  Essentially, the sub-type
   provides a simple wrapper that easily identifies the entire content
   as being the components of a single voice message.  The sub-type is
   identical in semantics and syntax to multipart/mixed, as defined in
   [MIME2].  As such, it may be safely interpreted as a multipart/mixed
   by systems that do not understand the sub-type (only the
   identification as a voice message would be lost).

   This mechanism allows the insertion of an explanatory preamble (e.g.
   VPIM voice message attached) for recipients who read the message with
   pre-MIME software, since the preamble will be ignored by MIME-
   compliant software.

   In addition to the MIME required boundary parameter, a version
   parameter is also required for this sub-type.  This is to
   distinguish, this refinement of the sub-type from the previous
   definition in [VPIM1].  The value of the version parameter is "2.0"
   if the content conforms to the requirements of [VPIM2].  Should there
   be further revisions of this content type, there MUST be backwards
   compatibility (i.e. systems implementing version n can read version
   2, and systems implementing version 2 can read version 2 contents
   within a version n).  The default version value (when the parameter
   is missing) is 1, indicating the content conforms to the requirements
   of [VPIM1].

   [VPIM2] describes the restriction that only specific media types,
   applicable to voice messaging, are valid `next-level' contents of
   this sub-type (when version=2.0).  They are: audio/*, image/*,
   message/RFC 822 and application/directory.  The multipart provides for
   the packaging of as many of these contents as is necessary.

3.2 VPIM v2 Usage

   The multipart/voice-message sub-type is a primary component of the
   VPIM specification [VPIM2].  All VPIM Messages MUST contain this
   sub-type to identify the wrapping of a voice message.  The contents
   of this wrapper can vary from only one audio/32KADPCM content to a
   complex set of related and nested contents.



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RFC 2423                multipart/voice-message           September 1998


   Typically, if more than one audio segment is present, the first is
   the spoken name of the originator, the second is the spoken subject,
   and the third is the voice message itself.  This order, however, MUST
   NOT be assumed in any case.  Further, the order that the contents
   appear SHOULD be the order in which they are presented to the user.

   The spoken name segment, if available, shall contain the name of the
   message sender in the voice of the sender.  The length of the spoken
   name segment must not exceed 12 seconds.

   The spoken subject segment, if available, shall contain the subject
   of the message sender in the voice of the sender.  The length of the
   spoken subject segment must not exceed 20 seconds.

   The directory information part, if present, will contain information
   specific to the orginator of the voice message.

   Refer to the VPIM v2 Specification for details on proper usage.

4.  IANA Registration

   To: ietf-types@iana.org
   Subject: Registration of MIME media type
             multipart/voice-message

   MIME media type name: multipart

   MIME subtype name: voice-message

   Required parameters: boundary, version

      The use of boundary is defined in [MIME2]

      The version parameter that contains the value "2.0" if
      enclosed content conforms to [VPIM2].  The absence of this
      parameter indicates conformance to the previous version
      defined in RFC 1911 [VPIM1].

   Optional parameters: none

   Encoding considerations: 7bit, 8bit or Binary

   Security considerations:

      This definition identifies the content as being a voice
      message.  In some environments (though likely not the
      majority), the loss of the anonymity of the content may be a
      security issue.



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RFC 2423                multipart/voice-message           September 1998


   Interoperability considerations:

      Systems developed to conform with [VPIM1] may not conform to
      this registration.  Specifically, the required version will
      likely be absent, in this case the recipient system should
      still be able to accept the message and will be able to
      handle the content.  The VPIM v1 positional identification,
      however, would likely be lost.

   Published specification:
       This document
       [VPIM2]

   Applications which use this media type:

     Primarily voice messaging

   Additional information:

     Magic number(s): ?
     File extension(s): .VPM
     Macintosh File Type Code(s): VPIM

   Person & email address to contact for further information:

     Glenn W. Parsons
     Glenn.Parsons@Nortel.ca

     Gregory M. Vaudreuil
     Greg.Vaudreuil@Octel.Com

   Intended usage: COMMON

   Author/Change controller:

     Glenn W. Parsons & Gregory M. Vaudreuil















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RFC 2423                multipart/voice-message           September 1998


5. Authors' Addresses

   Glenn W. Parsons
   Northern Telecom
   P.O. Box 3511, Station C
   Ottawa, ON  K1Y 4H7
   Canada

   Phone: +1-613-763-7582
   Fax: +1-613-763-4461
   EMail: Glenn.Parsons@Nortel.ca


   Gregory M. Vaudreuil
   Lucent Technologies
   17080 Dallas Parkway
   Dallas, TX  75248-1905
   United States

   Phone/Fax: +1-972-733-2722
   EMail: GregV@Lucent.Com

6. References

   [MIME2] Freed, N., and N. Borenstein,  "Multipurpose Internet Mail
           Extensions (MIME) Part Two: Media Types ", RFC 2046, November
           1996.

   [MIME4] Freed, N., Klensin, J., and J. Postel, "Multipurpose Internet
           Mail Extensions (MIME) Part Four: Registration Procedures",
           RFC 2048, November 1996.

   [VPIM1] Vaudreuil, G., "Voice Profile for Internet Mail", RFC 1911,
           February 1996.

   [VPIM2] Vaudreuil, G., and G. Parsons, "Voice Profile for Internet
           Mail - version 2", RFC 2421, September 1998.

   [REQ] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement
         Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.











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7.  Full Copyright Statement

   Copyright © The Internet Society (1998).  All Rights Reserved.

   This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
   others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
   or assist in its implmentation may be prepared, copied, published and
   distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any kind,
   provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
   included on all such copies and derivative works.  However, this
   document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
   the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
   Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
   developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
   copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
   followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
   English.

   The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
   revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.

   This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
   "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
   TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
   BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION
   HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
   MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE."
























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VPIM Voice Message MIME Sub-type Registration

RFC TOTAL SIZE: 10729 bytes
PUBLICATION DATE: Wednesday, September 2nd, 1998
LEGAL RIGHTS: The IETF Trust (see BCP 78)