Internet Engineering Task Force
Internet Draft                             H. Schulzrinne/A. Vaha-Sipila
                                                       Columbia U./Nokia
draft-antti-rfc2806bis-06.txt
October 21, 2002
Expires: March 2003


                    The tel URI for Telephone Calls

STATUS OF THIS MEMO

   This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with
   all provisions of Section 10 of RFC2026.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups.  Note that
   other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-
   Drafts.

   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress".

   The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at
   http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt

   To view the list Internet-Draft Shadow Directories, see
   http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html.





















H. Schulzrinne/A. Vaha-Sipila                                 [Page 1]


Internet Draft                 RFC2806bis               October 21, 2002


Abstract

   This document is a revision of RFC 2806.

   This document specifies the URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) scheme
   "tel" for specifying the address of a terminal in the phone network.
   The tel URI is service-independent and describes voice calls (phone
   calls, answering machines and voice messaging systems), facsimile
   (telefax) calls and data calls, for landline, ISDN and mobile
   subscribers.


1 Terminology

   In this document, the key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED",
   "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY",
   and "OPTIONAL" are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [1] and
   indicate requirement levels for compliant implementations.

2 Introduction

   This document defines the URI scheme "tel" that contains telephone
   numbers. The telephone number can refer to terminals in the telephone
   network or the Internet, mobile and landline devices, voice, data and
   fax devices. The URI can refer to originators or targets of a
   telephone call.

   Telephone numbers as commonly understood actually comprise two
   related, but distinct concepts: as a canonical address-of-record and
   as a dial-string. We define the concepts below:

        Address-of-record: The telephone number is understood here as
             the canonical address-of-record, as they are handled by the
             signaling network. Generally, this means E.164 numbers, or
             numbers that can be trivially converted into them.
             Subscribers publish a phone number as a universal means of
             being reached.

        Dial string: "Dial strings" are the actual numbers, symbols and
             pauses entered by a user to place a phone call. A dial-
             string is consumed by one or more network entities, and
             understood in the context of the configuration of these
             entities. It is used to generate a telephone number so that
             a call can be routed. Dial-strings may require pre-pended
             digits to handle local PBXs, and they may include post-dial
             DTMF signaling that could control an IVR. Dial strings are
             beyond the scope of this document.




H. Schulzrinne/A. Vaha-Sipila                                 [Page 2]


Internet Draft                 RFC2806bis               October 21, 2002


   To reach a telephone number from a particular terminal, the user of
   the terminal or the terminal itself has to know how to convert that
   telephone number into a dial string appropriate for that terminal.
   The telephone number itself does not convey what needs to be done for
   a particular terminal. Instructions may include dialing "9" before
   placing a call or prefixing a "00" to reach a number in a foreign
   country. Telephone numbers are also the normalized way that addresses
   are signaled in the PSTN.

   The notation for phone numbers is the same as in RFC 2303 [2] and RFC
   2304 [3]. However, the syntax differs since this document describes
   URIs whereas RFC 2303 and RFC 2304 specify electronic mail addresses.
   RFC 2303 and RFC 2304 use "/" to indicate parameters (qualifiers).
   Since URI use the forward slash to describe path hierarchy, the URI
   scheme described here uses the semicolon, in keeping with SIP URI
   conventions [4].

   There are at least two ways one can envision making a telephone
   connection. In the first approach, a URI contains the dial string,
   which is then passed to an entity that can reproduce the actions
   specified in the dial string, by sending DTMF digits, waiting for
   dial tone, pausing and generating post-dial DTMF digits after the
   callee picks up. Another approach has the URI specify the telephone
   number, which can be either globally unique or only be valid within a
   local context. A dialer application is aware of the local context,
   knowing, for example, whether special digits need to be dialed to
   seize an outside line, whether network, pulse or tone dialing is
   needed and what tones indicate call progress. The dialer then
   converts the telephone number into a dial string and performs the
   necessary signaling actions. The document below assumes the second
   model. The dialer does not have to be a user application as found in
   traditional desktop operating systems, but could well be part of an
   IP-to-PSTN gateway.

   The approach pursued here has the disadvantage that certain services,
   such as extensions on a PBX (when direct inward dialing is not used)
   or electronic banking, cannot be specified in a URI.

   The URI is used as a request URI in SIP [4] requests. The SIP
   specification also inherits the subscriber part of the syntax as part
   of the user element in the SIP URI. Other protocols may use this URI
   for both query-based and prefix-based applications.

   The tel: URI does not specify the call type such as voice, fax, or
   data call and does not provide the connection parameters for a data
   call.  The type and parameters are assumed to be negotiated either
   in-band by the telephone device or through a signaling protocol such
   as SIP.



H. Schulzrinne/A. Vaha-Sipila                                 [Page 3]


Internet Draft                 RFC2806bis               October 21, 2002


   In this document, a "client" is defined as software that can parse
   one or more of the URIs defined in this document and possibly place a
   call to a remote entity.

3 URI Comparisons

   URI comparisons are case-insensitive. However, all parameter names     |
   and values SHOULD use lower-case characters since tel URIs may be      |
   used within contexts where comparisons are case-sensitive.             |


        Section 19.1.4 in the SIP specification [5] discusses one    |
        such case.

4 URI Syntax

   The URI is defined using the ABNF (augmented Backus-Naur form)
   described in RFC 2234 [6] and uses elements from the core definitions
   (Appendix A of RFC 2234).

   The syntax definition follows RFC 2396 [7], indicating the actual
   characters contained in the URI. Note that the reserved characters
   "+", ";", "=", and "?" MUST NOT be escaped if shown in the grammar
   definitions below as they are delimiters for the "tel" URI scheme.
   These reserved characters MUST be escaped if they appear in parameter
   values.

   Characters other than those in the "reserved" and "unsafe" sets (see
   RFC 2396 [7]) are equivalent to their "% HEX HEX" encoding.

   The "tel" URI has the following syntax:



        telephone-uri         =  "tel:" subscriber                              |
        subscriber            =  global-number / local-number                   |
        global-number         =  e164 *global-par                               |
        global-par            =  parameter / isdn-subaddress                    |
        local-number          =  phone-number *global-par context *global-par   |
        e164                  =  "+" 4*15phonedigit ; valid E.164 number        |
        phone-number          =  1*phonedigit                                   |
        isdn-subaddress       =  ";isub=" 1*uric                                |
        context               =  ";phone-context=" descriptor *("," descriptor) |
        descriptor            =  domainname / global-number-digits              |
        global-number-digits  =  "+" phone-number                               |
        domainname            =  *( domainlabel "." ) toplabel [ "." ]          |
        domainlabel           =  alphanum                                       |
                                 / alphanum *( alphanum / "-" ) alphanum        |



H. Schulzrinne/A. Vaha-Sipila                                 [Page 4]


Internet Draft                 RFC2806bis               October 21, 2002


        toplabel              =  ALPHA / ALPHA *( alphanum / "-" ) alphanum     |
        param                 =  ";" pname ["=" pvalue ]                        |
        pname                 =  1*paramchar                                    |
        pvalue                =  1*paramchar                                    |
        paramchar             =  param-unreserved / unreserved / escaped        |
        reserved              =  ";" / "/" / "?" / ":" / "@" / "&" / "=" / "+"  |
                                 / "$" / ","                                    |
        unreserved            =  alphanum / mark                                |
        escaped               =  "%" HEXDIG HEXDIG                              |
        param-unreserved      =  "[" / "]" / "/" / ":" / "&" / "+" / "$"        |
        phonedigit            =  HEXDIG / visual-separator                      |
        visual-separator      =  "-" / "." / "(" / ")"                          |
        alphanum              =  ALPHA / DIGIT                                  |


   Each parameter name ("pname"), the ISDN subaddress and the context
   MUST NOT appear more than once. The order of the URL parameters is
   immaterial.  To facilitate comparison in contexts where the "tel" URI  |
   is compared character-by-character, such as SIP URIs [5], the ISDN     |
   subaddress SHOULD appear first, if present, followed by the context,   |
   if present, followed by any other parameters in alphabetical order.

5 Phone Numbers and Their Scope

5.1 Phone Numbers

   The <subscriber> part of the URI indicates the number. The phone
   number can be represented in either global (E.164) or local notation.
   All phone numbers MUST use the global form unless they cannot be
   represented as such. Numbers from private numbering plans, emergency
   ("911", "112") and some directory assistance numbers (e.g., "411")
   and other "service codes" (numbers of the form N11 in the United
   States) cannot be represented in global (E.164) form, and need to be
   represented as a local number with a context. Local numbers MUST be
   tagged with a phone-context.

   Implementations MUST NOT assume that telephone numbers have a
   maximum, minimum or fixed length, or that they always begin with a
   certain number.

5.1.1 Separators in Phone Numbers

   Phone numbers MAY contain visual separators. Visual separators
   (<visual-separator>) merely aid readability and MUST be ignored by
   the client.

   Even though ITU-T E.123 [8] recommends the use of space characters as
   visual separators in printed telephone numbers, tel URIs MUST NOT use



H. Schulzrinne/A. Vaha-Sipila                                 [Page 5]


Internet Draft                 RFC2806bis               October 21, 2002


   spaces.

5.1.2 Alphabetic Characters

   In some countries, it is popular to write phone numbers using
   alphabetic characters which correspond to certain numbers on the
   telephone keypad.  The URI format does not support this notation
   since the mapping from alphabetic characters to digits is not
   completely uniform internationally, although there are standards
   [9,10] addressing this issue.

   Since called and calling terminal numbers (TNs) are encoded in BCD in
   ISUP, this allows for six additional values per digit, sometimes
   represented as the hexadecimal characters A through F. However, in
   accordance with E.164, they may not be included in global numbers.
   Their use in local numbers is not defined, but is not prohibited.

5.1.3 Global and Local Numbers

   Global (international) numbers are identified by the "+" character
   prefix. Global numbers MUST be composed with the country (CC) and
   national (NSN) numbers as specified in E.123 and E.164 [8,11].
   International numbers have the property of being unambiguous
   everywhere in the world and are RECOMMENDED.  Only numbers that are    |
   dialable from anywhere are considered global numbers. In particular,   |
   toll-free numbers that are only dialable from within their own         |
   country code are not considered global numbers.

   Local numbers only work within a certain geographical area or a
   certain part of the telephone network, e.g., a private branch
   exchange (PBX) or a particular country. URIs with local phone numbers
   should only appear in environments where all local entities can
   successfully set up the call by passing the number to the dialing
   software. Digits needed for accessing an outside line, for example,
   are not included in local numbers.

   The phone-context parameter MUST be chosen to unambiguously identify   |
   the local context where the local number is valid. The parameter       |
   value is defined by the assignee of the local number. The parameter    |
   can contain a list of contexts that enumerate all the contexts where   |
   this number is valid. It does NOT in any way indicate a prefix that    |
   turns the local number into a global (E.164) number. The phone-        |
   context provides a unique identifier that lets a client know whether   |
   it can interpret the local number or not. It has not other meaning or  |
   function.                                                              |

   There are two ways to label the context: via a global number prefix    |
   (e.g., "+33") and via a domain name, e.g., "houston.example.com".      |



H. Schulzrinne/A. Vaha-Sipila                                 [Page 6]


Internet Draft                 RFC2806bis               October 21, 2002


   The choice between the two is left to the "owner" of the local number  |
   and is governed by whether there is a global number prefix or domain   |
   name that is a valid identifier for a particular local number.         |


        The two label types were chosen so that, in almost all       |
        cases, a local administrator can pick an identifier that is  |
        reasonably descriptive and does not require a new assigned   |
        number. It is up to the administrator to assign an           |
        appropriate identifier and to use it consistently. Often,    |
        an organization can choose among several different           |
        identifiers.                                                 |

   The domain name does not have to resolve to any actual host, but MUST  |
   be under the administrative control of the entity managing the local   |
   phone context.                                                         |

   A global number prefix consists of the initial digits of a valid       |
   global number. When a global number prefix is used as the context, it  |
   MUST be chosen to be unique. All numbers within the prefix must be     |
   assigned to the same organization that is describing the context. If   |
   there is no such prefix, the organization should use the lowest        |
   number of the global number range assigned to it. It is not required   |
   that all numbers within the context actually begin with the chosen     |
   prefix.

   For a local number valid within a PBX, the organization can choose
   any number under its control to identify the context. For example, a
   context consisting of any of the organization's global numbers may be
   suitable, or a substring that is completely occupied by the
   organization. For example, +49-6151-16 would be a suitable prefix for
   the TU Darmstadt, as it uses all numbers starting with those digits.

   For example, ";phone-context=+31,+49" indicates that the number is
   valid in country codes 31 (Holland) and 49 (Germany).

   The global number prefix does not imply that adding it to the number
   will generate a valid E.164 number. It might by coincidence, but this
   cannot be relied upon. (For example, "911" should be labeled with the
   context "+1", but "+1-911" is not a valid E.164 number.) As noted
   earlier, numbers that can be represented as valid global numbers MUST
   NOT be represented as local numbers plus phone-context.

   National freephone numbers SHOULD be represented with a local prefix.
   For example, a freephone number in the North American numbering plan
   might be written as tel:800-555-1212;context=+1 of robustness,
   implementations MAY recognize a number written as if it were a global
   number.



H. Schulzrinne/A. Vaha-Sipila                                 [Page 7]


Internet Draft                 RFC2806bis               October 21, 2002


5.2 ISDN Subaddresses

   A phone number MAY also contain an <isdn-subaddress> parameter which   |
   indicates an ISDN subaddress.                                          |

   ISDN subaddresses typically contain IA5 characters, but may contain    |
   any octet value.

5.3 Other Parameters

   Future extensions to this URI scheme may add other parameters
   (<param> in the ABNF). Such parameters can be either mandatory or
   optional. Mandatory parameters start with "m-". An implementation MAY
   ignore optional parameters. An implementation MUST NOT use the URI if
   it contains unknown mandatory parameters. The "m-" prefix cannot be
   added to parameters that were already registered (except to create a
   new, logically distinct parameter). The "phone-context" parameter in
   this document is mandatory.

   For example, <param> parameters can be used to store application-
   specific additional data about the phone number, its intended use, or
   any conversions that have been applied to the number.

   All new parameters MUST be registered with IANA.

6 Examples

        tel:+358-555-1234567

             This URI points to a phone number in Finland. The hyphens
             are included to make the number more human-readable; they
             separate country, area codes and subscriber number.

        tel:7042;phone-context=cs.columbia.edu

             The URI describes a local phone number valid within the
             context "cs.columbia.edu".

        tel:863-1234;phone-context=+1-914-784

             The URI describes a local phone number that is valid within
             a particular phone prefix.

7 Rationale


7.1 Why Not Just Put Telephone Numbers in SIP URIs?                       |




H. Schulzrinne/A. Vaha-Sipila                                 [Page 8]


Internet Draft                 RFC2806bis               October 21, 2002


   The "tel" URI describes a service, reaching a telephone number, that   |
   is independent of the means of doing so, be it via a SIP-to-PSTN       |
   gateway, a direct SIP call via ENUM translation, some other signaling  |
   protocols such as H.323 or a traditional circuit-switched call         |
   initiated on the client side via, say, TAPI. It is thus, in spirit,    |
   closer to the URN schemes that also leave the resolution to an         |
   external mechanism. The same "tel" URI may get translated to any       |
   number of other URIs in the process of setting up the call.

7.2 Why Not Distinguish Between Call Types?

   Signaling protocols such as SIP allow to negotiate the call type and
   parameters, making the very basic indication within the URL scheme
   moot.  Also, since the call type can change frequently, any such
   indication in a URI is likely to be out of date. If such designation
   is desired for a device that directly places calls without a
   signaling protocol such as SIP, mechanisms such as the "type"
   attribute for the "A" element in HTML may be more appropriate.

7.3 Why "tel"?

   "Tel" was chosen since it is widely recognized none of the other
   suggestions appeared appropriate. "Callto" was discarded since URI
   schemes locate a resource and do not specify an action to be taken.
   "Telephone" and "phone" were considered too long and not as
   internationally recognized.

7.4 Do Not Confuse Numbers with How They Are Dialed

   As an example, the E.164 number "+1-212-555-3141" will be dialed in
   many countries as 00-1-212-555-3141, where the leading "00" is a
   prefix for international calls. (In general, "+" in E.164 indicates
   that an international prefix is required.) Tel URIs MUST NOT contain
   the local dialing prefixes in numbers such as +1-212-555-3141, as the
   transformation back to an international number is not guaranteed to
   be correct or unique.

   If a client receives a "tel" URI containing a local number, it MUST
   make sure that it knows the context in which the local phone number
   is to be processed, or else the number MUST NOT be used. Equally, the
   originator of a "tel" URI must take into consideration that the
   recipient may have insufficient information about the phone number's
   context.

8 Usage of Telephone URIs in HTML

   The number SHOULD be visible to the end user if it is conceivable
   that the user might not have a client which is able to use these



H. Schulzrinne/A. Vaha-Sipila                                 [Page 9]


Internet Draft                 RFC2806bis               October 21, 2002


   URIs.


     Telephone: <a href="tel:+3585551234567">+358-555-1234567</a>



   On a public HTML page, the telephone number in the URI SHOULD always
   be in the international form, even if the text of the link uses some
   local format.


     Telephone (if dialing in Finland):
       <a href="tel:+3585551234567">(0555) 1234567</a>



   or even


     For having RFCs read aloud, call
     <a href="tel:+1-555-438-3732">1-555-IETF-RFC</a>.



9 IANA Considerations

   "Tel" URI parameters (<param>) MUST be registered with IANA. Any
   parameter that should be considered as mandatory should be prefixed
   by "m-" as described in Section 5.3. Mandatory parameters must be
   described in an informational or standards-track RFC.

10 Security Considerations

   The security considerations parallel those for the mailto URL [12].

   A client SHOULD NOT place calls without the consent of its owner.
   Placing calls automatically without appropriate user confirmation may
   incur a number of risks, such as those described below.

        o Calls may incur costs.

        o The URI may be used to place malicious or annoying calls.

        o A call will take the user's phone line off-hook, thus
          preventing its use.

        o A call may reveal the user's, possibly unlisted, phone number



H. Schulzrinne/A. Vaha-Sipila                                [Page 10]


Internet Draft                 RFC2806bis               October 21, 2002


          to the remote host in the caller identification data, and may
          allow the attacker to correlate the client's phone number with
          other information such as the e-mail or IP address.

        o A call may use the same local number in different contexts, in
          which the number may have a different meaning.

11 Change History

11.1 Changes Since -05

        o URI comparisons are case-insensitive.

        o Specified recommended order of parameters to simplify use
          within SIP URIs.

11.2 Changes Since -04

        o ISDN subaddresses can contain any IA5 character or even binary
          data; represented now as "uric".

11.3 Changes Since -03

        o Clarified use of multiple contexts and how to express this, as
          a comma-separated list.

11.4 Changes Since -02

        o Clarifications and editorial fixes.

        o Now, mandatory parameters are labeled, to avoid making [13]
          obsolete.

11.5 Changes Since -01

   The draft has been greatly simplified to reflect parts that have
   actually been implemented.

        o Removed references to carrier selection.

        o Removed dial context.

        o Removed fax and modem URIs.

        o Removed post-dial strings.

        o Removed pause characters.




H. Schulzrinne/A. Vaha-Sipila                                [Page 11]


Internet Draft                 RFC2806bis               October 21, 2002


11.6 Changes Since RFC 2806

   The specification is backwards-compatible with RFC 2806.

        o Editorial changes and clarifications. The document has been
          shortened and reorganized. Most paragraphs have been rewritten
          to be more concise.

        o Syntax now conforms to RFC 2396 [7], in particular related to
          escaping.

12 Acknowledgments

   This document inherits a large amount of text from RFC 2806 [14].
   Flemming Andreasen, Francois Audet, Lawrence Conroy, Jon Peterson,
   Mike Pierce and James Yu provided extensive comments.

13 Authors' Addresses

   Henning Schulzrinne
   Dept. of Computer Science
   Columbia University
   1214 Amsterdam Avenue
   New York, NY 10027
   USA
   electronic mail: schulzrinne@cs.columbia.edu

   Antti Vaha-Sipila
   (ISO 8859-15 quoted-printable: Antti V=E4h=E4-Sipil=E4)
   Nokia Mobile Phones
   P. O. Box 321
   FIN-00045 Nokia Group
   Finland
   electronic mail: avs@iki.fi, antti.vaha-sipila@nokia.com

14 Bibliography

   [1] S. Bradner, "Key words for use in RFCs to indicate requirement
   levels," RFC 2119, Internet Engineering Task Force, Mar. 1997.

   [2] C. Allocchio, "Minimal PSTN address format in internet mail," RFC
   2303, Internet Engineering Task Force, Mar. 1998.

   [3] C. Allocchio, "Minimal FAX address format in internet mail," RFC
   2304, Internet Engineering Task Force, Mar. 1998.

   [4] M. Handley, H. Schulzrinne, E. Schooler, and J. Rosenberg, "SIP:
   session initiation protocol," RFC 2543, Internet Engineering Task



H. Schulzrinne/A. Vaha-Sipila                                [Page 12]


Internet Draft                 RFC2806bis               October 21, 2002


   Force, Mar. 1999.

   [5] J. Rosenberg, H. Schulzrinne, G. Camarillo, A. Johnston, J.
   Peterson, R. Sparks, M. Handley, and E. Schooler, "SIP: session
   initiation protocol," RFC 3261, Internet Engineering Task Force, June
   2002.

   [6] "Augmented BNF for syntax specifications: ABNF," RFC 2234,
   Internet Engineering Task Force, Nov. 1997.

   [7] T. Berners-Lee, R. Fielding, and L. Masinter, "Uniform resource
   identifiers (URI): generic syntax," RFC 2396, Internet Engineering
   Task Force, Aug.  1998.

   [8] International Telecommunication Union, "Notation for national and
   international phone numbers," Recommendation E.123, Telecommunication
   Standardization Sector of ITU, Geneva, Switzerland, 1998.

   [9] International Telecommunication Union, "Arrangement of digits,
   letters and symbols on telephones and other devices that can be used
   for gaining access to a telephone network," Recommendation E.161,
   Telecommunication Standardization Sector of ITU, Geneva, Switzerland,
   May 1995.

   [10] ANSI, "Allocation of letters to the keys of numeric keypads for
   telecommunications," Standard T1.703-1995 (R1999), ANSI, 1999.

   [11] International Telecommunication Union, "The international public
   telecommunication numbering plan," Recommendation E.164,
   Telecommunication Standardization Sector of ITU, Geneva, Switzerland,
   May 1997.

   [12] P. Hoffman, L. Masinter, and J. Zawinski, "The mailto URL
   scheme," RFC 2368, Internet Engineering Task Force, July 1998.

   [13] J. Yu, "Extensions to the 'tel' URL to support number
   portability and freephone service," Internet Draft, Internet
   Engineering Task Force, Aug.  2002.  Work in progress.

   [14] A. Vaha-Sipila, "URLs for telephone calls," RFC 2806, Internet
   Engineering Task Force, Apr. 2000.


   Full Copyright Statement

   Copyright (c) The Internet Society (2002). All Rights Reserved.

   This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to



H. Schulzrinne/A. Vaha-Sipila                                [Page 13]


Internet Draft                 RFC2806bis               October 21, 2002


   others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
   or assist in its implementation 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.





























H. Schulzrinne/A. Vaha-Sipila                                [Page 14]


                           Table of Contents



   1          Terminology .........................................    2
   2          Introduction ........................................    2
   3          URI Comparisons .....................................    4
   4          URI Syntax ..........................................    4
   5          Phone Numbers and Their Scope .......................    5
   5.1        Phone Numbers .......................................    5
   5.1.1      Separators in Phone Numbers .........................    5
   5.1.2      Alphabetic Characters ...............................    6
   5.1.3      Global and Local Numbers ............................    6
   5.2        ISDN Subaddresses ...................................    8
   5.3        Other Parameters ....................................    8
   6          Examples ............................................    8
   7          Rationale ...........................................    8
   7.1        Why Not Just Put Telephone Numbers in SIP URIs?  .... 8  |
   7.2        Why Not Distinguish Between Call Types?  ............    9
   7.3        Why "tel"?  .........................................    9
   7.4        Do Not Confuse Numbers with How They Are Dialed .....    9
   8          Usage of Telephone URIs in HTML .....................    9
   9          IANA Considerations .................................   10
   10         Security Considerations .............................   10
   11         Change History ......................................   11
   11.1       Changes Since -05 ...................................   11
   11.2       Changes Since -04 ...................................   11
   11.3       Changes Since -03 ...................................   11
   11.4       Changes Since -02 ...................................   11
   11.5       Changes Since -01 ...................................   11
   11.6       Changes Since RFC 2806 ..............................   12
   12         Acknowledgments .....................................   12
   13         Authors' Addresses ..................................   12
   14         Bibliography ........................................   12














H. Schulzrinne/A. Vaha-Sipila                                 [Page 1]